In the Mind (of Demons)
by MarkiplierMultiverse
Summary: Set after: Where It All Started (with Demons). Dark escaped into another world. Mark made it back home. It was finally over. Or was it? When Sam Winchester has a dream of mysterious symbols, it's feared that Dark may be returning. Who Killed Markiplier? references. COMPLETE. Book Three of Demons Trilogy.
1. Chapter 1

**Previously on Supernatural...**

Without needing to think about it, he remembered...Dark had full control. But then Dark was gone and Mark was himself again. Then the angel, Castiel, was there driving a blade into Mark...

"It was Dark's plan all along. To have me trapped here."

...the only information they had on Darkiplier were the files Sam had gotten from the computer of Dr. Laurie Bates, whose dream was to rule by Dark's side. She had gotten killed by him instead...

That meeting with Dark didn't make sense sometimes. Why had he gone through so much trouble to get Mark then do so much to get Amy to decide to save him?

"This plane of existence is connected to the Multiverse. Meaning every path you could have or will take can be seen from here, by me. It was how Dark was able to travel between alternate universes."

Amy had been living day by day, watching Dark live as Mark. For nearly a year.

Dark was back. Sam looked at Dean. Neither of them liked the fact that Sam's hunch had been right.

 _What your mind can do..._

Mark focused his thoughts...he could feel power surging through him.

"And it turns out...Dark took control of his original body when the angel came up..." Mark mimed stabbing himself.

Cas hadn't needed an innocent murder on his shoulders on top of everything else he had dealt with before Lucifer killed him.

Mark had felt that power and it had obviously scared him. But Dean could tell that that tasted hadn't been enough...

"You have this desire for revenge...but there's an endless supply of alternate universes, alternate Marks. You might wipe out a few of them, but you've already lost. Mark will keep going no matter what you've done or will do."

Then he remembered that power surge... It had only lasted a brief moment, but it felt... _I want to feel that again..._

"In another time, another world...Mark was led astray by the dark forces surrounding this house...The house wouldn't let him go until he fulfilled that lust for revenge. But things got out of hand. He stole someone else's body and ran. Dark is after _him._ Dark believes that Mark found his way into another world. Dark thinks you are him."

"Once he's here, I can trap him...So I can save him."

"You've spent close to a year with this young lady. True, it was all a ruse...but this last year has changed you. Dark is fading, isn't he?"

Amy hadn't believed there was anything human left in Dark...but she had seen a glimpse of who he had once been...

Damien.

"He's not who you think he is."

"You haven't seen what he can do."

"You put him there. You gave him that power...He's not who you say he is!"

Amy didn't know what he did, but she was suddenly knocked off her feet by a force that sent Dark flying across the room...Mark's eyes weren't a solid black, but there was something dark inside him.

"She can't leave...She doesn't have a body back in the real world. She's been dead a while. She can only live here."

Dark heard a gunshot then pain lanced through his side...Celine...she had been the one to let the shot wound him. Letting him know what she was capable of?

Dark didn't have to look to know that Amy had almost moved to protect him... "I win again," Dark said...Before anyone could do anything, Dark opened a portal and escaped into another world...

"You should learn not to trust me." Celine was going after Dark.

"Just tell me you didn't love him."

"I don't. But something _did_ happen."

Too much time had been spent apart. They would need each other to heal that rift.

"If anything weird happens, let us know."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**

 _~World Between Worlds~_

He was leaving. And even though she had accepted that fact, Celine still hated the thought of letting him go. But she had to. He wasn't hers to keep. No matter how close they had gotten this past year. She had to let him go.

But as Mark turned to step through the portal and get back to his life, Celine reached out and touched his arm. She resisted the urge to grab him and pull him to her.

"I'll make sure he won't come after you," Celine said, speaking of Dark, who had escaped into a portal of his own a few moments ago. She had told Mark and his friends that she would close the portal, preventing Dark from traveling between universes. "I can close the doors, but I can also open them back." She reached up and kissed him on the lips then smiled. "You should learn not to trust me."

From the look in his eyes, Mark understood that she was going after Dark. Because she still believed the good in him could be saved? Not anymore, but Mark didn't need to know that.

"Be careful," Mark said. She nodded then watched as he stepped through the portal and disappeared from her life once again.

Celine closed the portal, wondering whether or not she should catch a glimpse of his life now that he was back home. But she decided against it. It would be too tempting to try and bring him back here. To her. He wasn't the Mark she had known, but he could have been one she could love.

Just like every other Mark Dark had trapped here. She had thought it was just to see if he had the right Mark, but there had to be more to it than that. Dark was trying to distract her. But why?

Celine was the Keeper of this World Between Worlds. Dark couldn't escape from her.

And he hadn't.

Celine turned and dropped the illusion the others had seen. Of Dark escaping through a portal. In reality, he had never left. He was laying on the floor, unconscious, thanks to her. The wound from the gunshot had already healed, the small pool of blood around him already drying.

He had bragged about this place being his domain, but had never considered the possibility that she could grow stronger than him here. Leaving her in this world was his last mistake.

So he was going to help her get out.

* * *

 _~Kansas, 2018~_

At first he thought his Visions had returned. It was the only explanation for the strange, unfamiliar symbols he saw in his dream. But it hadn't felt like a Vision. So then what was it?

Sam Winchester was up early, around four a.m., but he hadn't been able to go back to sleep. With those symbols fresh in his mind, Sam started researching. But after a few hours, there was still nothing to show for it.

The symbols stared up at him from the page. Something in the back of his mind told him he knew the solution to this. That the answer was staring him in the face.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up to see Castiel standing there across the table from him. The last year suddenly weighed on Sam all over again. Castiel's death, Castiel being brough back by Lucifer's son, Jack, Mary Winchester and Jack both trapped in the Apocalypse World...

Castiel was eyeing the papers and books strewn across the table. "Are you researching a new case?" the angel asked.

"Not exactly," Sam said then stood and began gathering up the papers. "I had this weird dream last night. Thought it might have been a Vision, but..." He gestured to the table. "Turned up nothing."

"What did you dream?" Castiel looked at the paper Sam handed over to him.

"It might've been just something I ate yesterday," Sam said. "Enough weird stuff has been happening -"

"You only saw these symbols?" Castiel interrupted. He looked away from the page, his eyes meeting Sam's.

Sam nodded his head, trying to remember more of his dream, but only the symbols stood out. "Why?" he asked. "Do you know something about those symbols?"

"Do you remember when we were in Los Angeles?"

Something rang familiar. "The Darkiplier case?" Sam asked. Castiel nodded. "What do these symbols have to do with that?"

Castiel put the paper down and drew another symbol, but it was similar enough to the others for Sam to know it was in the same language. And the symbol Cas had drawn was one Sam had seen before, in Los Angeles.

During the Darkiplier case, Dark had recruited six men to take out one. All six men each had a tattoo on their collarbone. The symbol Cas had just drawn now. At the time, Sam had thought it was a protection spell, but Dean had been informed that it meant 'Darkness.' Implying that those who had the tattoo were Darkiplier's property. Dark had ended up killing all six men.

"Dark is back?" Sam asked. He had had a similar dream warning him of Dark's return once before, but these symbols had never appeared. "But Celine said she closed the door."

"Celine?"

"A friend of Mark's," Sam said. "Dark has her trapped in a World Between Worlds, as she called it. It was how Dark was able to travel."

"You ended up there as well?"

Sam sat back down, wishing he didn't have to say it, but Castiel deserved to know the truth. "When you killed Dark...it was actually Mark," he said, watching as Castiel processed that information. "He ended up in that world with Celine. For a year."

"Because of me."

Sam didn't want Cas to take the blame for it. "Dark planned on trapping him there from the beginning," he said. "We were all tricked into doing what Dark wanted."

"And Mark's...safe now?"

"As far as we know," Sam said. He hadn't heard anything from Amy in months. He had chosen to view that as a good thing. But if Dark was back... "Dark escaped into another world. Celine promised she would keep him from coming back here." And everyone had believed he wouldn't even want to come back. Amy had assured them of that after revealing Dark getting too in touch with his human side.

Was that something to disbelieve as well?

"If he is back," Castiel said, glancing down at the symbols. "This might tell us where."

"He'd just go after Mark again."

"But there IS a clue here."

And the answer was staring him right in the face! "Dr. Bates," Sam said, getting to his feet again. "She had everything she knew about Dark in her computer." And he had printed out those files for just in case. "She was the surgeon. She had to have tattooed the patients. She knew what those symbols meant."

"She was also obsessed with ruling at Dark's side," Castiel said, following as Sam moved off to another room. "How do we know these symbols won't summon him back here?"

Sam ducked into the room they kept past records. "Hopefully her files will shed some light on that," he said then grabbed a box off a shelf.

* * *

 _~In the Mind~_

"You have to wake up."

There was darkness as far as the eye could see. Much different than the darkness he was used to. This darkness felt empty...hollow... _maddening._ As if he was trapped in his own mind. The suffering of the demented.

"You are trapped."

Dark turned and came face-to-face with...himself. Damien. A blue glow surrounded him, giving off the only light, but Dark new a light wasn't needed.

"Demented is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Damien said. "We're all sane here, aren't we?"

"It's only the two of us."

"Wrong!" Damien snapped, brandishing the cane he had always carried around. "There's never been two. I'm as much you as you are me."

"Celine wants to separate us."

"Separate us?" Damien shook his head. Dark could feel his disappointment in Celine. Because they were the same person. "There's no 'us.' Just me. It's always been just me."

"What happened in Los Angeles -"

"Celine's been messing with my head the whole time," Damien said. He gestured around. "And she's still doing it!"

Dark's anger grew, his need to get rid of Celine overpowering any desire for revenge against Mark. "She's trapped me here," he said.

Damien nodded. "And I have to wake up."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two**

 _~Kansas, 2018~_

The files from Dr. Bates consisted mostly of things Sam had already learned about Darkiplier. Fan theories from the internet. Not all of which were true. But since Bates had spent time with Dark on a personal level, she knew a bit more than the fans did. And even with all she knew, she still followed him. If only she had known Dark would eventually betray her.

"She knew Crowley," Castiel said, breaking the silence. They had been reading through the files for nearly an hour. Sam had been surprised by the amount of information. "Apparently he sought her out, not Dark."

"He did say he knew Dark," Sam said, though they had known at the time that Crowley hadn't been telling the truth about Dark. "Crowley also said that he let Dark out into the world. Out of everything he told us about Dark, that rang the most true."

"If Dark has this World Between Worlds to travel with, how did he get caught by Crowley?"

"Always knew Crowley knew more than he let on," Sam said and left the thought at that. With Crowley dead, there was nothing more they could learn from him. It hadn't been important enough at the time after everything that been happening back then.

Sam looked back down at the papers in front of him and they read in silence for the next few minutes. Again, Castiel was the one to break the silence.

"There's more to those symbols than I thought," Cas said, sounding worried now. Sam looked up as Castiel came around the table with his papers. He placed them down in front of Sam.

The symbols Sam had seen in his dream stared back up at him. Along with a way to decipher it. Bates had added notes of her own, all in Korean. Sam picked up the papers, reading over it all.

"There's a lot more to Dark than we thought," Cas said. "Probably more than even he knows."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. He looked up at Castiel. "Do you know what these symbols mean?"

Castiel nodded. "I didn't at first," he said. "This code hasn't been used in thousands of years. Only a handful of angels even knew it existed."

"But what does that have to do with Dark?"

"Thousands of years ago, a dark power surfaced," Castiel explained. "We originally thought it was created by Lucifer, but it was something that didn't come from our world. While it was here, it formed its own army of demons and fallen angels. They made up a coded language so no one could find them."

"So this dark power is Darkiplier?" Sam asked. "And he doesn't remember?"

"Crowley was right about it not having a vessel at first," Castiel said. "The angels knew that if it did find a vessel, we wouldn't be able to stop it."

"What happened?"

"God locked it away in another world when he saw that the angels couldn't stop it," Castiel said. "It was never seen again, so it was forgotten."

Sam remembered Celine talking about the house and the dark forces surrounding it. "It was locked away in an alternate universe?" he asked. Cas nodded. "What would happen if it found a vessel?" They both knew there was no if about it.

"It's not an angel or a demon, but can pretend to be either," Castiel said. "A vessel would help concentrate its full power. If Dark remembers who he really is..."

"We'd have to worry about him on top of everything else," Sam said. He leaned back in his seat, looking at the papers. "If we can decipher what I saw in my dream, it might help."

"But would it explain why you had that dream?"

"I hope so," Sam said then got to work.

* * *

 _~In the Mind~_

Damien stood there, watching as Dark paced back and forth. The only question here was how Celine had been able to trap him in his own mind. And why? Surely she knew by now that "saving" him was out of the question. There was nothing to save because he wasn't in any type of danger.

"How did I let this happen?" Dark finally stopped pacing. He faced Damien. "She shouldn't have been able to touch me! It's my home!"

"But it isn't," Damien said. "It was just a cage. A cage we were left to rot in. Because of Mark." He could still remember the emptiness he had felt at the news of Mark's "death." And then the rage after learning who Mark really was.

 _I never thought he'd fall this far._

 _And we played right into his hands! He'd been planning this for years! And now that son of a bitch is out there, walking around in MY body -  
_

Mark took everything from us.

"We were in this together, she said," Damien murmured. "But she's been feeding me lies, leading me away from him."

"She wants something," Dark said. "If she really believed there was any hope for redemption, she would have tried something by now."

"Would you give her what she wants?"

Dark was silent, but Damien knew what he was thinking. They were one and the same, after all. "I'll give it to her," Dark said. "And then destroy her with it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the bit of a wait for this update. I just got super busy last week. I've decided to update this story every Monday, just to give myself a set schedule to get it done it time. :)

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 _~Kansas~_

Sam left Castiel to translate the rest of the symbols since Cas was more familiar with the coded language. The angel would know how it all fit together to unwrap the mystery. And in the meantime, Sam called Amy. He wasn't too sure what he would say to her, but he would make sure nothing he said panicked her.

But, after everything she had already been through with Dark, the possibility of him returning might not even bother her. She had been the one to say Dark wouldn't ever come back to this world.

Because Dark had fallen in love with Amy. Sam didn't know how close she had gotten to feeling the same way, but he did know that she and Mark had had a lot of stuff to work out.

Amy answered the phone pretty quickly, not sounding surprised to hear from him. "Hey, Sam," she said. "It's been a while."

Sam couldn't help but smile. Over the time he had spent with Amy, he had grown to like her. She was like a sister. And even though she was also mixed up in this demon hunting world of theirs in a way, Sam always caught a glimpse of a normal life when he was around her. And even though he wouldn't trade his life now for anything, those occasional glimpses with Amy were nice.

"Too long," Sam said, wondering if he should fill her in on everything that had happened since he last saw her, but then decided against it. It pained him to think he shouldn't even be calling her now. She and Mark had gotten back into their normal lives. They hadn't wanted any more of the hunter life. But was it so wrong for Sam to want her as a friend? Something normal in his life? Dean would just tell him that being friends with her would put her in danger. That her life would cease to be normal after that. If Sam cared, really cared, he would leave her alone.

"I actually called because something came up," Sam said. He took her silence as her bracing herself for some bad news. "Nothing...weird has happened lately, has it?"

"As in Darkiplier weird?" Amy asked. "I'm gonna freak if I've spent any more time -"

"Mark is Mark, you don't have to worry about that."

"Then why ask if anything weird has happened?"

"I've been having dreams that might be linked to Dark," Sam said. "Symbols he used back at the hospital." He knew that that had been a hard time for her, but she had healed over time.

"So nothing to do with Celine?" Amy asked.

"Not yet at least," Sam said. Celine showing up was also a possibility, but she had supposedly locked herself up in the World Between Worlds. But if Dark was coming back, they needed to be prepared for Celine as well. "There's also something else."

Now Amy sounded worried. "What?"

"There might be new information on where Dark came from," Sam said. "Before Damien."

"I feel something bad coming, so I would rather not know," Amy said. "As for your question, nothing weird..." She trailed off.

"Amy?"

"Mark just came in," Amy said after a brief moment. "You're on speaker phone."

"You're wanting to know if anything weird has happened recently?" Mark asked, but apparently needed no answer. "Last night I had a dream. I didn't think anything about it, but since you're now calling to ask if anything weird has happened, it can't be coincidence."

"Did you see any strange symbols in your dream?" Sam asked then described the ones he had seen in his own dream.

"No symbols," Mark replied. "The dream kinda felt like old memories, but I didn't recognize anything."

Sam remembered what Celine had once told him. Of the possibility that Mark was the same Mark who Dark was after. The Mark that had stolen Damien's body and supposedly escaped into another world. But then Celine had been sure he wasn't that Mark.

But if Dark couldn't remember where it had come from, there was a possibility Mark had forgotten as well. Dark had forgotten because of merging with Damien, taking his memories and life and twisting it to his own desires. Mark could have forgotten while he became a part of this world.

"Sam?"

Sam hadn't realized he had been quiet for so long. "Keep me updated about your dreams," he said. "I just have a hunch that something big is about to happen." If what he thought about Mark was true, and if Dark remembered where he came from, would that open the floodgates of Mark's own memories?

Sam hung up and hurried back to Castiel.

* * *

 _~California~_

Mark knew what was coming as soon as Sam hung up the phone. He knew it from the look on Amy's face when he mentioned his dream to Sam. "I was going to -" he started, but Amy cut him off.

"Don't even give me that," Amy said. "Even if you didn't think it was anything, you still should have told me."

"It was just a dream."

"Was Celine there?"

"No," Mark said with a shake of his head. "If she was, I would have told you."

"Oh, so I don't deserve to know unless she's involved," Amy said. She turned and walked across the room, sitting down at the desk. "Good to know."

Mark walked over to her, turning her chair until she was facing him. He knelt down in front of her, meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry for not telling you," he said. "But I honestly didn't think anything of it. The only weird thing about it was that I didn't recognize anything." He could guess what Sam had been thinking when he hung up. It was what Celine had been trying to push.

That he was the same Mark Dark was after.

"What was your dream?" Amy asked. She didn't sound upset with him anymore, which was good.

"It was just...flashes of images," Mark said. They all knew how dreams worked. That you ended up not remembering most of it once you were awake. "Most of it's blurry, but I remember seeing this figure, who seemed important. It felt like they were always there. I don't know if they were friend or enemy. They were just there."

"I'm sure Sam will come up with something," Amy said. She leaned forward, taking his hands in hers. "It also doesn't sound like nothing. If I had had a dream like that -"

"You know the kind of dreams I've had," Mark said, remembering the dreams he had while Dark was trying to take over his body and the dreams while he was in the World Between Worlds with Celine. "If it was a threat, I'd know."

"But you said you didn't know if the figure was friend or foe."

"It didn't feel dangerous," Mark said. "Sam will find something out. They've helped us before."

"I'm worried that they'll find something."

Mark didn't admit it, but he was a little worried as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four**

~In the Mind~

Dark and Damien stood across from each other. He knew how long it had been since Celine trapped him here, but he was also aware of how she was trying to get him to believe he had been here for much longer. Did she think the passage of time would break him? That, if enough time had passed, he would come groveling back to her? Did she really think he was weak enough for that to happen?

But she had already gotten into his head, hadn't she? He had to admit, she had some power over him. She had to have been messing with him the whole time. It was the only explanation as to why he had let his guard down around Amy.

Amy.

"Not this again," Dark said, breaking the silence. He didn't need to talk, but Damien could feel Dark getting worried. It seemed like he worried a lot when it came to the subject of Amy.

"Love is a weakness," Dark went on, walking in a circle around Damien. "Admitting feelings for her is the same as admitting defeat."

"Is it really?" Damien asked. "She can deny it, but I stole her heart from Mark. I won."

Dark stopped in front of Damien once again. "I thought the plan was to kill Mark," he said. "Instead, I keep thinking about her! We don't have time for this!"

"Celine says differently."

"Celine can go to hell."

"She won't be in the way much longer," Damien said. "I can contact Amy. If she lets me in, escape is imminent."

"She'll let us in?"

"Me," Damien corrected then grabbed Dark, the two of them becoming one once again. "And I won't give her a choice."

Not this time.

* * *

~Kansas~

When Sam walked back into the room where Castiel was still working, he wasn't surprised to see Dean there. The only surprising thing was that Dean hadn't been around earlier. Dean looked up at Sam as he walked in. Sam already knew what was on his mind.

"I had a dream that may or may not be a warning that Darkiplier's back," Sam said. The look on Dean's face said he already knew. Of course. Castiel wouldn't have kept anything from him.

And then there was the fact that every paper in front of Dean now explained the obvious.

"Was it like your hunch last time?" Dean asked. "I thought Celine was supposed to have prevented him from coming back?"

"You didn't trust her from the start, Dean," Sam said. Dean opened his mouth, but then nodded in agreement and left it at that. Sam walked over to Castiel's side of the table. "I just got off the phone with Mark and Amy. Apparently Mark has started having dreams."

"The same type?" Cas asked.

Sam shook his head. "He said they felt like memories, but he didn't recognize anything," he said. He glanced over at Dean. "A red flag went up for me when I heard that."

Castiel remained silent, but Dean spoke up. "Are you saying that Mark IS the Mark Dark's after?" he asked. "The one that stole Damien's body?"

Castiel appeared confused. "How many Marks have you come across?"

"Just the one," Sam replied. "It can be a bit confusing sometimes."

"Celine's been in contact with a hell of a lot more," Dean said. "Out of everyone, she would know, but she was sure Mark isn't him."

"Just because she tried to get him to remember and he didn't," Sam said. "There might be a lot more connected to his memory loss." He looked at Castiel. "Did you tell him -"

"Dark's a big, bad darkness from another world, yeah," Dean said. "That's what I don't get. The darkness was Amara and she's gone. Shouldn't we have heard about this other darkness? Surely she would have said something about a copycat."

"There were only certain angels who knew," Castiel said. "And they were instructed to keep it quiet. Once it was trapped in another world, it was forgotten."

"Forgotten?" Dean said. "Then how do you know about it?"

"I was there."

"So you just decided not to tell us -"

"As far as he knew, Dark was trapped for good," Sam cut in. "If it wasn't for these symbols, it never would have come up."

"What exactly are these symbols?"

Sam looked at Cas to explain. "At first I thought it was a spell," the angel began. "But the more I deciphered, the more it didn't make sense."

Sam peered down at the papers Cas was working on. "What does it say?" he asked.

"It's a cry for help," Castiel said then moved the paper so Sam and Dean could both see it. There wasn't much to the words, but something about it sent a chill down Sam's spine:

Get me out of the mirror.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five**

~World Between Worlds~

Leaving Dark to suffer through whatever hell was in his head, Celine stepped out of the room. She roamed around the house for a few minutes, ending up in the tower. The view before her could be anything she wanted it to be, so it was no surprise that it was showing Mark's life.

Ever since he left, she had kept an eye on him. She was a little jealous, watching Mark and Amy grow back together over the months, but she had let him go because he couldn't have been happy here with her. He might have eventually, but he had had a life to get back to. And Amy was the most important thing.

Amy had almost been out of the picture, thanks to Dark, but also thanks to Dark, Mark and Amy had been reunited.

Celine broke out of her thoughts when she saw Mark and Amy on the phone, looking at each other worriedly. It didn't take her long to find out who they had been talking to. From their worried expressions, the answer should have been obvious:

Sam Winchester.

The Winchesters were hunters who had caused a lot of trouble for Dark. The two brothers were also a reason why Celine had been unable to woo Mark to her side completely. They had gotten to Mark by bringing up the possibility of Amy being in danger. Celine hadn't been able to get Mark to trust her after that.

But why were Mark and Amy talking to Sam now?

With little effort, her view changed to where Sam was now. She didn't really care where he was, but the papers on the table in front o him caught her attention. She stepped forward, the view zooming in. The symbols didn't mean anything to her, but what was written as the obvious translation did.

Get me out of the mirror.

The mirror? In Markiplier Manor? The mirror had been a doorway to another layer of this world, the World Between Worlds. And it was where she had Dark trapped now.

Celine turned and hurried down the stairs. She hadn't wanted a confrontation with Dark this early, but if he had sent that message to Sam, she was out of time. Why he would send a cry for help to Sam didn't make sense to her, but maybe he was tricking them into believing he was someone else.

But then her thoughts strayed to another someone who had been trapped in the mirror. But that was impossible. As far as she knew, they were long gone from this world, having found another way out of the mirror.

Celine sat down on the floor in front of Dark's unconscious form. She slowed her breathing and closed her eyes, focusing on that other layer. Her body relaxed and soon she was standing in the empty void.

She had expected to see both Dark and Damien as two separate entities like she had planned, but only one man stood before her now. And the look in his eyes told her this was Dark.

"Or Damien, whichever you prefer," he said, hearing her thoughts. Here, in this world, they were more in tune with each other. Like they had been when they had tricked the district attorney into handing over their body, essentially.

"You were tricked too, Celine," Dark said. "Are you finally tired of reminding me of that?"

The reason she was here was now the furthest thing from her mind. "Where's Damien?" she asked.

"Are you not listening?" Dark said. "I AM Damien. And I'm Dark. One and the same. You can't mess with my head here."

"I did for a time," Celine said. "I've already accepted the fact that the Damien I knew is gone."

"So you want something."

"If your vendetta against Mark is over, then yes."

"Then get what you want elsewhere."

"Then have fun in this hell of your making," Celine said then got back to why she was here. "What are you hoping to accomplish by sending messages to Sam Winchester?"

There was a flicker of something in his eyes that said this was his first time hearing this. He was about to use it against her. Which meant...

"I'm here alone," Dark said. "But thank you for letting me know there's another way out."

"You'll never find the mirror."

"Good thing I'm in no hurry."

Things were quickly slipping out of her control. "I'll let you out," she said, surprising herself for giving in so easily. "If you do something for me."

"What?"

"Give me my life back." If she left this World Between Worlds, she would be cursed to walk the earth as a ghost or be forced to cross over. She had been dead for quite a few years. Her body was gone.

"Why do you think I have the power to do that?"

"It's practically the same thing you did to Mark."

Dark pieced together where this was going. "You want to take over Amy's life," he said. "Are you really that pathetic? Doing anything just to get him?"

"You'd be free to leave here," Celine said. "And promise we'll never see each other again."

"Easy promise," Dark said. She could feel how ready he was to get rid of her. "After all, you've proven that he's not the Mark I'm looking for." He knew she thought differently, but hopefully he would still keep his promise.

"One other thing," Celine added. "Amy takes my place here, in the World Between Worlds. You can do what you want with her." She was a bit worried he would change his mind after that, but then he nodded.

"We have a deal," he said.

* * *

~Kansas~

"Any ideas on what the hell it means?" Dean asked. He glanced at Sam, but his full attention was on Castiel. He had been the one to translate it.

"Uh...someone is trapped...in a mirror," Castiel said. Dean rolled his eyes. He should have expected that answer.

"But is it Dark?" Dean asked. "Why would he ask for help? Especially from us?"

"Maybe it's not Dark," Sam said.

"Those symbols were the same ones Dark used at the hospital," Dean said. "The only other person it can possibly be is that psychobitch Dr. Bates."

"Dark killed her."

"No one stays dead, Sammy," Dean said. "The only time they stay dead is if we want them alive."

"Okay, then maybe it's Dr. Bates," Sam said. "She's the one who tattooed the symbols on the patients. But even as a ghost, would it be possible for her to find out who we are? We didn't have that much contact with her and we used fake names."

"You did steal all of her research on Dark," Dean said. "Maybe she just followed that."

"We'll keep it under consideration," Castiel said. He looked at Sam. "If it is Dr. Bates, she might have something in her research about a mirror."

"There's a lot of lore about people getting trapped in mirrors or using mirrors," Sam said. "We might end up chasing dead ends and if Dark really is back, we don't have time for that."

"You mentioned that Mark started having dreams," Dean said. Sam nodded his head. "If this is all connected, and there's nothing that proves it's not, his dreams could explain the mirror."

"Are you suggesting we run a sleep test on Mark?"

"Essentially, yeah," Dean said, nodding. "If Dark's back, Mark will be his ultimate target so we can be there when and if he shows." He got to his feet.

"But what about the plan to get mom and Jack?"

Dean hesitated for a moment, but this was happening now. "If Dark's back, he might be a way to open the rift to the apocalypse world," he said. It had been the reason Asmodeus had been after Dark. It hadn't been confirmed whether or not Dark could open a rift, but he was able to open portals to other worlds through the World Between Worlds. "Mark and Amy could be in danger. It just makes sense to go."

Neither Sam nor Cas said anything. Dean gestured for them to follow then left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Six**

Amy was dreaming. And after the day she had, she wasn't surprised to be hearing Dark's voice whispering her name. She knew he wasn't really there. The year they had spent together with her thinking he was Mark had brought out the human side of him. He wouldn't risk awakening old feelings by coming back.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Dark said, appearing before her. She was surprised by her own jolt of emotions from seeing him again. She had thought she had gotten over how she felt about him.

Dark stepped closer to her, brushing his fingers across her cheek. "You're dreaming," he said. "Of the way it could have been with us."

Amy started to protest, knowing there would have been no future between her and Dark, but he placed a finger against her lips, silencing her.

And when he lowered his hand, the scenery behind him changed. He stepped to the side and she took it all in. She didn't recognize the place, but it was decorated the way she would want it decorated. Her belongings were placed around the room. And as she walked forward, she saw pictures of herself and Mark.

No...

Her and Dark.

Amy turned away from the pictures. Dark was standing there with a bouquet of flowers, which felt out of character for him, but it also felt so right. This was the person she had imagined him to be.

Mark was the furthest thing from her mind.

"This could be yours," Dark said, then added: "Ours." He walked over to her and she took the flowers, breathing in the sweet scent. "Just say the word and you can have everything." He leaned toward her, kissing her cheek.

"Just let me in," Dark whispered in her ear, her body reacting the way he wanted.

Amy had a sudden craving for him, but when she moved to grab him, he stilled her with a touch. She knew he wanted her just as much, so why was he holding back?

"Say it," Dark said, his lips brushing against hers in a light kiss.

"Take me," Amy said against his lips. "I'm yours."

Dark smiled. But instead of kissing her, he stepped away from her. The living room they had been standing in was gone, replaced with an empty void. Amy suddenly realized that this was more than just a dream.

And it was too late.

"Get used to your new home," Dark said. He turned his head as Celine walked up to stand beside him. He was speaking to her and not Amy. "A deal's a deal."

Celine waved her hand and then they were standing in the house Amy recognized as the World Between Worlds. Things were happening so quickly that Amy had a hard time keeping up.

"Better get to your new body," Dark said. "Wouldn't want Mark waking up to find his girlfriend dead."

What was happening fell into place. Celine was stealing her body. Amy stepped forward. "Wait!" she started, but then Celine was gone. "No!"

"You gave permission," Dark said. "Live with the consequences."

"You tricked me."

"You thought it was a dream."

"You made me believe it!"

"It's what you really wanted."

"You son of a bitch -" She stopped when he showed her the bedroom she and Mark shared. He was showing what was happening right now. Amy didn't want to watch, but she couldn't look away. Was this her life now? Watching as Celine took over in the real world?

"Put me back," Amy said, staring at Dark. "Do what you did with her."

"I can't," Dark said. "She made sure of that. You said you were mine. This is all on you."

"No," Amy said, collapsing to the floor. She put her head in her hands and cried.

* * *

~California~

Mark woke up the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. He grabbed it and silenced it, glancing over at Amy, but she was still asleep. He got out of bed but didn't answer the phone until he was outside of the bedroom. It was Sam who was calling.

"You better be glad I get up early," Mark said, heading to the kitchen to get himself a glass of milk. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to let you guys know that we're on our way to you," Sam said, not giving Mark much of a chance to react to that news. "Our dreams might be connected. Dean suggested we do a sleep test on you. Sort of."

Forgetting about the milk, Mark sat down at the table. "What kind of sleep test?"

"We'll go over it when we get there," Sam said. "Did you dream anything new last night?"

"No," Mark replied. "It was actually a dreamless sleep."

"All right," Sam said. "We'll talk more when we get there." Then he hung up.

Mark hung up and placed the phone down, noticing that Amy was up. "Sam called," he said, knowing she would be curious. "Apparently he and Dean are on their way. They didn't say when they'd be here."

"Why are they coming?" Amy asked. She said it a bit weird, but she had just woken up.

"Something about the dreams," Mark said. He leaned back in his seat. "Can't wait for this to be over."

Amy walked over to him, straddling his lap and kissing him without a word. Mark slipped his arms around her and kissed her back, a little taken aback by how forceful she was becoming. She was acting as if she hadn't seen him in forever and needed him.

Mark broke the kiss and looked up at her. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked.

"Of course," she said with a nod. "Hearing that Sam and Dean are coming was just unexpected. I feel like we won't be getting a lot of private time together."

"Well, we have plenty of private time right now."

"You're in the mood for that?"

"Watch it. I might change my mind."

Amy smiled then kissed him again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven**

~California~

It was around noon when the impala pulled up in front of Mark's place. Castiel was in the back seat, still studying that coded language from Sam's dreams. He obviously wanted to make sure he didn't have to worry about taking time with the next translation. If anything popped up in Sam's dreams again. He had slept for most of the trip, hoping something new would happen, but no such luck.

Hopefully they would have better luck with Mark's dreams.

Pocketing the keys, Dean got out of the car, waiting for Sam and Cas before leading the way to the door. He knocked, keeping an eye out for anything weird. And an ear, too. He was prepared to bust the door down if he heard anything from inside.

All he heard at first was a dog bark. Chica. The wait for the door to open wasn't much longer after that. Mark stood there, telling Chica to quiet before inviting the three of them inside. "Amy went out shopping, probably meeting up with Kathryn," he said as he closed the door and followed the others into the living room. "You got here a lot faster than expected. But at least you called first."

"Do you remember seeing a mirror in your dream?" Dean asked, not wanting to waste time with small talk.

"A mirror?" Mark asked then paused to think. After a moment he shook his head. "If there was a mirror, it wasn't too important."

Sam handed over the paper with the message on it. "That was the message that was in my dream," he explained. "If our dreams are connected, we hope to find the mirror in your dream."

Mark looked up from the paper. "You're making it sound like you're going INTO my dream," he said.

"Pretty much, yeah," Dean said with a nod. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing. And it'll only be Sam and Cas. I volunteered to stay out here when Dark shows up."

"So Dark IS coming?"

"It's for just in case," Sam said. "But after everything we've gone through with Dark in the past, I think it's safe to assume he's coming back."

"Safe?" Mark asked. "Wrong choice of words, but I get it. Thinking Dark was gone for good was too good to be true anyway."

"Next time we'll know better than to trust Celine to close the door," Dean said, noticing the look on Mark's face. "She closed the door, right?"

"Uh...not really, no," Mark confessed. "She was going after Dark. But she said she would make sure Dark didn't come after us."

"And you believed her?" Dean shook his head in anger. "We should've taken care of her when we had the chance!"

"She helped us," Mark said. Why was he defending Celine? But he HAD spent a year alone with her. He might not have fallen for her, but he still cared about her. And that was dangerous if Celine and Dark showed up working together.

Sam knew what Dean had been thinking. "She has no interest in helping Dark," he said. "And she can't leave the World Between Worlds without dying."

"If that was the truth," Dean said. "She probably told us that so she could spring a surprise trap on us later."

"She can't now, can she?" Sam said. "We'll be prepared for them both if they show. We've got the upper hand this time by being here first."

Dean nodded and that was that. He really wanted them both to show. He needed to relieve some stress.

But if Dark really was the big bad Castiel had talked about, would Dark even be stoppable?

* * *

~World Between Worlds~

Dark had left. Amy wasn't completely sure of where, but she had a good idea of where he had gone. Why else would he help Celine steal her body? So he could get at Mark. Amy really wanted to yell at Dark more, but that was probably why he had left.

Amy dropped down onto a chair, hating how hopeless her life was now. And how dirty she felt for falling for Dark's tricks. It was clear he had never loved her. He just made her think that so he could use how she felt against her.

She had felt something for him once, but after this she was over it. If she ever saw Dark again, she wanted it to be witnessing the end of his life.

And to make matters worse, Dark had left open a window to her world so she could watch Celine live as her. She had left the room when she had to sit and watch Celine pretend to be her and become intimate with Mark.

She wished she could be the one to kill Celine.

"That kind of mentality gets you screwed over."

Recognizing the voice, Amy whirled around, but who she saw standing there wasn't who she expected. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was slicked back, but he wasn't anything like Dark, she could tell that much. The ribbon pinned to his lapel had a word stitched into it: Mayor. Which told her this wasn't the Mark she knew and she could guess who he was.

The one who stole Damien's body.

The Mark Dark was after.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Eight**

~California~

Mark peeked into the other room where Sam, Dean, and Castiel were working. He wasn't sure of what all they needed to do, but he left them to it. Mark had called Amy a few minutes ago to fill her in and ask if she could come on home. She hadn't seemed too interested in coming home, but she said she would be there when she could.

Her odd behavior about it all was understandable. She was probably just worried that whatever happened here might be what brought Dark back. And after the last time he and Dark had shared a body, Mark didn't want a repeat of that.

Because it was so easy to give in. And so far, Mark hadn't been strong enough to not give in. He had given Dark control, he had given in the the dark power in the World Between Worlds... What would he fall prey to now?

"You okay?" Sam asked, stepping out of the room to join Mark. "We're all set if you're ready for this."

"I know we might be racing against the clock here," Mark said. "But can we wait for Amy? Nothing against you guys, but she's kind of my emotional support. Plus, I keep getting flashbacks of getting stabbed by Castiel, so I need to work that out." He hadn't meant any offense by it, and it looked like Sam had expected that reaction from Mark concerning Castiel.

"If it means anything, what happened then is bothering him too," Sam said. That only made Mark feel partly better about it. "He didn't know it was you. No one did. We all fell for Dark's tricks."

"I get it," Mark said. "But I want to wait for Amy."

Sam thought for a moment then nodded. "All right, we'll wait for Amy," he said then went back into the other room.

* * *

"We don't have time for this," Dean said when Sam informed him of Mark's suggestion about waiting for Amy. "She should've already been here! She knew we were coming. Mark wouldn't have kept that from her."

"Look at it from her point of view, Dean," Sam said. "Every time we've been around, Dark has been there. Dark might have it out for Mark, but she's been getting the bad end of the deal every time."

"But we're here BEFORE Dark," Dean said. "To keep them safe FROM Dark."

"We're waiting for Amy," Sam said. "In the meantime, we'll go over our plan." He looked at Castiel, who would be in charge of the entire thing since he was the one with the spell that would put them into Mark's dream.

"Shouldn't we go over that with Mark?" Dean asked. "It's his dreams you're gonna be in."

"Mark will be asleep," Castiel said. "And unless he has perfected the art of lucid dreaming, he won't have any control over it. Our control will even be limited."

"How limited?" Sam asked.

"We won't be able to control where the dream goes, we can only follow," Castiel said. "But we'd have control over the immediate surroundings. Not that much different than what we're doing now in this place."

"And if we find a mirror, what then?" Sam said. "Mark said the mirror didn't seem important so if we can't control where the dream goes..."

"That's where Dean comes in," Castiel said. "We can't control it, but Dean can plant the idea in Mark's head about the mirror by talking about it. If I'm right, Mark will subconsciously hear the suggestion and seek out the mirror."

"If you're right," Dean said. "And if not, we'll keep trying until he gets it."

"Is Mark aware of the risks involved?" Castiel asked, looking up at Sam. "Once we're in, there's no privacy for him. So if we end up in a dream that's not about the mirror..."

"We'll talk to him about it when Amy gets here," Sam said. "I'm sure the risks won't surprise him. He's already had his privacy violated by Dark."

"If I were him, I'd say no because of that," Dean said. "Nothing worse than being mentally raped."

"We need him to agree to this," Sam said. "There's something about that mirror. If we have to, we'll go into my dreams as well."

Dean looked past Sam. "We'll talk about that later," he said. "Amy's here."

Sam turned to see Mark walk into the room with Amy behind him. She gave a small wave, but otherwise said nothing. Sam had expected the usual hug she gave him, but this particular reunion was anything but usual, so he didn't dwell on it.

"Are you ready for this?" Sam asked. "We can always give you time to think it through." He expected Dean to protest, but he was leaving it all up to Mark. This was his choice.

"I'd rather get it over with," Mark said, reaching back to grab Amy's hand. She laid a supportive hand on his back.

The look on her face, though, gave Sam the feeling that it was more possessive than supportive. She wasn't about to lose Mark again.

"There's just some things we need to cover beforehand," Sam said. "We may have to go in more than once. We probably won't get the dream we need every time."

"So you'll be seeing whatever I dream," Mark said. Sam nodded. "I don't think I dream anything too embarrassing, so I'm not worried."

"They'll be in deep corners of your subconscious," Dean said. "No privacy."

Mark looked at Amy then back forward. "You guys already know a lot about me," he said. "I'll take whatever risk may come if my dreams provide answers."

"All right," Sam said. "Then let's get started."

* * *

~World Between Worlds~

"Mark."

"Yes," he said, stopping in front of Amy. "And no. It's complicated."

"You stole Damien's body."

"I guess it's not too complicated for you."

"Have you been here the entire time?" Amy asked. She was relieved that her Mark hadn't turned out to be this Mark, which was something Sam and Dean were probably thinking still.

He shook his head. "I haven't been here that long," he said. "Been trying to find a way out."

Amy remembered the dreams Mark and Sam had both been having. "You sent the dreams," she said. He didn't deny it, so that was enough confirmation for her. "Why him?"

"I learned about him from Celine and Damien," he said. "Or whatever Damien is now."

"Do they know you're here?"

"Finding me is the last thing on their minds," he said. "I can hide in plain sight. They seem to care more about you and your Mark."

"Is Dark going after him?"

"Dark?"

"Damien," Amy said. "Dark is controlling him." Did part of her still want to see the good in him?

"That's not what I've seen while I've been here," he said. "Damien's in full control. With the power I could've had. Instead, I ran."

"Dark's not a demon or something that possessed Damien?"

"That power physically changed him," he said. "He's the thing that does the possessing."

"What about Celine?"

"She had the power to do what she wanted, make Damien see what she wanted him to," he told her. "But now? She's just as normal as you were."

"She's powerless? He sent her into my body like that? Does she know?"

"It sounded like he's got plans for her," he said. "She more than likely doesn't know."

And everyone thought Celine was Amy! If Dark did something to her...

"I need to get back."

"You think of anything I haven't?" he asked. "Those messages I sent..." He stopped abruptly.

"What?"

"Mark's dreaming."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Nine**

~California~

Celine stayed by Mark's side as she watched Sam, Dean, and Castiel. The angel was a newcomer, but she tried not to act as if she had never seen him before. She didn't know if Amy had ever met him or not. Thankfully, he didn't know her enough to talk to her.

Sam, on the other hand, had seemed suspicious of her at first. As if he knew she wasn't really Amy. She would have to be careful around him.

She had to glance at her reflection every once in a while to remind herself that she had nothing to worry about. She looked and sounded like Amy. But Sam and Dean had proven they were a lot more than they seemed. And the angel was surely capable of seeing even more than them!

"Hey." Mark nudged her arm, taking her hand. She looked at him. "You okay?"

Before she could respond, Dean walked over. "As we've explained, Sam and Cas are going into your dream," he said. "You can pretty much just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"I feel a but coming on," Mark said, holding Celine's hand tightly. His grip didn't hurt, but the fact that he thought she was Amy did.

Even though it was what she wanted.

"What we need you to do isn't much," Dean said and his next words caught Celine's interest. "If you can, focus on the mirror so we can try and steer the dream toward it."

Celine tuned out the conversation as panic settled in. The mirror... She didn't have to worry about them finding Dark, but when they found the mirror, they would find Amy!

But wait... Mark was dreaming about the mirror? For how long? Was Dark behind this or someone else through the mirror with Amy right now?

"Amy?"

"What?" Celine asked, breaking out of her thoughts. Dean had walked back over to Sam and Castiel. She looked at Mark, hoping the panic she felt wasn't obvious on her face.

"Dean said he'll be talking to get me focused on the mirror while I'm asleep," Mark said. "Could you help him? I might listen to you more." He smiled, but she could see he was trying to hide how nervous he was over this.

She couldn't help them find the mirror. That would undo everything. And she had only just got here! She had to find a way to lead them away from the mirror.

Unless she got rid of Amy.

"I can do that," Celine said, perfectly at ease with lying to him. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I keep having trouble believing that," Mark said then moved over to the bed the others were standing around.

Celine moved forward as Mark laid down. Sam was sitting on one of two chairs by the bed. Castiel was standing at Mark's side. She had spent a year with Mark, had been in and out of his thoughts. She knew how he felt about the angel. The memory of Castiel stabbing him was forever burned into Mark's mind. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

She walked over to stand on the other side of Mark, watching as Castiel recited a spell then touched Mark's forehead. Mark was asleep. Castiel was still reciting the spell as he sat down next to Sam. The next moment, they both relaxed, asleep.

"Here we go," Dean murmured.

* * *

~In the Mind~

Sam woke up a bit disoriented since he had just fallen asleep. He looked around, but nothing came into focus. It had worked. They were inside the dream. Hopefully the right dream.

Castiel was suddenly beside him. He looked around. "Where do we begin?" he asked, looking at Sam.

"All we can do for now is wait," Sam said. "Even though he's asleep, he probably won't dream right away." He started forward, Castiel beside him, their footsteps echoing around them.

Slowly, fuzzy images started to appear. Sam was a bit surprised that everything was appearing in a shade of gray, like an old movie. There was no color in sight other than himself and Castiel.

Mark was nowhere to be seen.

"The mirror..." The voice said more, but only those two words were understandable. Sam recognized his brother's voice.

"We can't hear anything else he's saying because he told Mark to focus on the mirror," Castiel explained. "We'll go unnoticed."

The scene around them shifted and Sam could now see Mark walking along, eyes straight ahead. Sam touched Castiel's arm then nodded toward Mark. Together, they followed Mark.

"...mirror..." Dean's voice sounded a bit more insistent as if he was arguing.

Arguing?

"There's nothing special about the mirror." This voice was also recognizable, but unexpected.

It was Celine's voice.

"Something's happened," Sam said, watching as Mark turned to follow the original path of the dream. "We have to wake up."

"It's too early," Castiel said. "Leaving now would cause damage to Mark. Whatever happened, I'm sure Dean can handle it."

"But that was Celine..."

"Dean can handle it," Castiel repeated. He didn't have to. Sam wouldn't risk hurting Mark if Dean wasn't in danger. "We'll need to try and influence Mark on our own."

Sam nodded and they both quickened their pace to catch up with Mark.

* * *

~California~

Celine stood to the side as Dean was saying something to Mark about the mirror. She wasn't sure of how this was working, but if it actually was, she was in trouble. She needed to think fast.

She moved closer to the bed. "What if this doesn't work?" she asked. She had learned that Amy had once had doubts that Sam and Dean could help, so her questioning their methods now shouldn't be too suspicious. "They're in his head. That can't be good for Mark."

"This is safer than when he had Dark influencing his mind," Dean said, but he didn't sound so sure of that.

"Really?" Celine asked, calling him out on it.

Dean looked annoyed. He probably didn't want her bothering him right now, but didn't want to be rude and tell her outright. "All they have to do is find the mirror and get out," he said. "It shouldn't even take that long."

"What if..." Celine said then leaned forward, closer to Mark so she could be sure he heard her. "There's nothing special about the mirror?" She glanced down to see Mark shift in his sleep, react to her words, but that was it.

"We'll find out when they do," Dean said then gestured for her to move away.

Celine stepped away. There wasn't much else she could do right now but wait.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Ten**

~World Between Worlds~

"Mark's dreaming."

Before Amy could ask for more clarification, the black void around them shifted and they were suddenly standing in the house. The same room she had been in when she and the others had left this world for their own. Amy wished for a similar portal before her now, but instead, she was looking into a mirror.

"There's secrets to this place if you can't tap into the dark forces," the Mark of the other world said. "I'd rather not open old wounds."

Amy looked away from the mirror and at him. "So the whole 'tainted by the dark side' no longer applies to you?" she asked since it was him dabbling into those same dark forces that started all of this.

"I'm not the bad guy here."

"Tell that to Damien."

He turned to her, and the look in his eyes was so much like her Mark's that she was caught off guard, but had to remind herself who THIS was. "If you want to lay blame on someone," he said. "There's a colonel in my world who still needs to answer for what he's done."

"You know what? I'm not doing this," Amy said. She was already deep enough in this mess. She didn't want to burrow deeper. She wanted to get out. "Are Mark's dreams a way for us to get out or are you just using it to call for help?"

"It can be both, if we so choose," he said. "That's what Celine and Damien did to you."

She didn't need to be reminded. "But then Mark would be stuck here."

He nodded. "Hence the reason I'm only using it for messages," he said then turned back to the mirror.

Amy looked into its reflective surface, but instead of seeing their reflection, she saw Mark. Along with Sam and Castiel. If this was Mark's dream, why were they there?

"Wait," Amy said when something suddenly occurred to her. "You're not using this to steal Mark's body."

"I've done enough damage," he said then looked at her, meeting her eyes. "But you deserve to know that I would have if I had no other choice."

"You'd ruin someone else's life?" Amy asked. "For that, you deserve to be trapped here."

"I said if," he told her. "After meeting you, I promise I'll move on."

"Because of me? You don't even know me."

"This place connects us," he said. "I can feel your thoughts, your life. If you wanted to, you could do the same with me."

Amy got a better understanding of the relationship between her Mark and Celine. Amy didn't want to have a similar experience with this Mark, but she understood the appeal. There was something tempting about knowing someone that intimately. To know their thoughts just by being near each other.

She found herself giving in to that desire, reaching out to him mentally. She got a glimpse of something, but then a darkness threatened to close in and she backed off in a hurry.

"Not everyone can resist it," he said, his eyes still on her. "If you stayed here longer, you could learn to fight it."

"If it ever comes down to it, don't ask me to stay," Amy said then pointed at the mirror. "Is that mirror our way out?"

He nodded. "But you'd need a willing body on the other side since you can't do much in your current condition," he said. "Celine won't be willing, so all we can do is warn them."

Amy stepped closer to the mirror. "Can they see us?" she asked, watching as Sam and Castiel followed after Mark. "Could we talk to them?"

"I've tried," he said. "They obviously don't see the mirror as important."

"You can influence dreams," Amy said, turning to him. "Get their attention."

"I've tried!" he repeated.

"Try harder!"

He nodded then looked past her at the mirror, a look of relief on his face. "Maybe I don't have to."

Amy turned back and saw Sam and Castiel walking toward the mirror on their side.

There was hope.

* * *

~California~

Dean paced back and forth, keeping an eye on Mark, Sam and Castiel. He knew they were asleep, but no movement made Dean worried. He wanted to know what was happening! Why did he agree to let Sam go?

And Amy wasn't making him any less worried. She asked the occasional question, but for now she was just standing near the bed, looking at Mark with an equally worried expression.

"Come on, Sammy," Dean muttered to himself. He started toward the bed to try and steer Mark's dream in the right direction, but then suddenly found himself flying across the room. He heard Amy scream "NO!" as he was pinned against the wall. That was when he saw Dark and knew time was up for them all.

"You promised!" Amy screamed. Dean wondered if she would physically attack Dark, but she kept her distance from him.

"I said it was an easy promise," Dark said. "I never promised." He snapped his fingers and Sam, Mark, and Castiel woke up, jolted from sleep. Dean knew that waking up too early was dangerous for those asleep, but it probably didn't apply to a demon such as Dark waking them up.

Sam and Cas were instantly on the defensive when they saw Dark, but were unable to try anything as Dark pinned them to the wall with Dean. And Mark obviously knew better than to try anything. In the World Between Worlds, Mark could easily take Dark, but here Mark was just an ordinary and powerless human being.

Dark moved toward Amy, who was still screaming something about a promise. Dean tried to fight back against Dark's invisible hold, but it was no use. He refused to let the helplessness settle in and yelled for Mark to MOVE!

But it was too late.

Dean could only watch as Dark pulled out a knife and stabbed Amy. Mark cried out and jumped to his feet, but by the time he got to Amy, Dark was gone. Amy collapsed into Mark's arms as Dark's hold on Dean, Sam, and Castiel vanished.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Eleven**

~In the Mind~

 _A few minutes earlier..._

Sam was walking in front of Castiel, keeping an eye on where Mark was headed when Castiel grabbed his arm, stopping him. Sam noticed that Mark had stopped as well. He looked at Cas, who pointed to the right. Sam looked and saw the mirror.

"We should hurry," Castiel said, glancing over at Mark. "We might not have a lot of time here."

Sam nodded and together they headed toward the mirror. And as they neared the mirror, Sam was surprised to see Mark and Amy inside it. Sam looked at Castiel, who appeared just as confused as Sam was about this.

"Celine has my body," Amy said when they stopped in front of the mirror. "Dark may be after her or they have something planned for Mark."

Sam looked at Mark, but had the feeling that this wasn't the same Mark he knew. "We heard Celine earlier," he said. He was worried for Dean if Dark was on his way right now. "I WAS starting to wonder if something was up with you. If it's Celine..."

"You need to go now," Amy said. "I'm not going anywhere and he knows how to contact you."

Sam looked at Mark once more. "The dreams?" he asked. Mark nodded. He turned to Castiel -

But then the next thing he knew, he was waking up. The suddenness of it was overwhelming. It took him a moment to process what had happened.

Sam got to his feet, fully awake when he saw Dark. Castiel stood beside him, but before they could move forward, Dark waved his hand and Sam was thrown backwards against the wall and pinned there, Castiel beside him. Dean was in the same predicament.

Sam saw Dark move toward Amy, telling himself that it was Celine. To clarify what they learned in Mark's dream, Sam looked at Castiel, who nodded to confirm that she wasn't Amy.

He looked back forward when he heard Mark cry out in anger and pain. That was when Sam saw that Dark had stabbed Amy. Celine, he reminded himself. Dark disappeared as Celine collapsed into Mark's arms. Almost immediately Dark's hold vanished and Sam, Dean and Castiel dropped to the floor.

Mark was cradling Amy's body on the floor. Sam didn't need to check to know that she was gone.

Sam grabbed Dean's arm when his brother started forward. Dean looked at him and Sam gave him a 'Need-To-Talk' look. Dean looked toward Mark once more, but then stepped out of the room with Sam. Castiel remained with Mark.

"This better be important," Dean said. "I won't let that son of a bitch get away -"

"That wasn't Amy," Sam said, cutting him off. "She's inside the mirror with who I'm assuming is the Mark Dark's been after."

"You found the mirror."

Sam nodded. "Amy told us that Celine stole her body," he said. "She knew Dark had gone after her, but didn't know why. We know why now." It should have been a relief to not have to worry about Celine anymore, but Dark was still out there.

"You found the mirror, Amy's alive, and this Mark ain't that Mark," Dean said. He gestured back toward the room. "We should let him know."

"What if we can't get Amy back?" Sam asked. "The only ones who knew how to get out of that mirror are Dark and Celine. Celine's dead and Dark's not in a sharing mood."

"He still needs to know," Dean said. "He just got through watching Dark kill her. He needs that hope."

"Amy might be trapped forever," Sam said. He wasn't against telling Mark, but these thoughts needed to be voiced. "It'll hurt him more if we can't get her back."

Dean paused to think it over, but then shook his head. "We're not leaving him out of the loop," he said. "We tell him." He turned and went back into the room. Sam followed then they both stopped.

Castiel and Mark were gone.

* * *

She was dead.

And he had done nothing to stop it.

Mark was aware that he was sitting on the floor, holding Amy's body, covered in blood, but his brain had clicked off, like it had all happened to someone else. Not him. This was someone else's girlfriend that had been gutted by a demon.

But the more he tried to separate himself from reality, the more it hit him.

Amy was dead.

And he had just stood by and watched it happen.

But, against someone like Dark, there wasn't much he could have done, right? That was what people would tell him, he knew. They would especially stress the point that it hadn't been his fault.

He wouldn't blame himself anyway.

This was all on Dark.

Mark knew Sam and Dean had left the room, but he could still feel the angel's eyes on him. He would gladly welcome the memory of Castiel stabbing him. It would mask the pain of what he felt now. He needed the distraction of being unable to trust Castiel.

"I can feel the rage building up inside you," Castiel said. Mark tried to ignore him, wanting to be left alone. "You want to kill Dark."

"I'm not gonna kill anybody," Mark said, brushing hair out of Amy's face. She hadn't died peacefully or in fear. Anger had been plastered on her face as she had died. Anger at Dark.

"But you want to."

Mark remembered everything Amy had told him about Dark. How Dark made her believe he was Mark. How he had used her and still used her. Amy had felt something for Dark, so a part of her was still closed off from Mark.

"Yes," Mark said, feeling the rage, but also pain. "Dark deserves so much more than death."

Castiel seemed to hesitate. He was obviously going against Sam and Dean's wishes. "Dark wants the confrontation," he said. "He left a trail he knew only I could follow." He walked over to stand next to Mark. "Is it what you really want?"

Mark didn't look away from Amy. "Yes," he said. He felt Castiel's hand on his shoulder.

Then they were gone.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for not getting this update out yesterday. I had planned on doing it yesterday, but things came up and I lost track of time. I'll stick with the Monday schedule from now on.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Twelve**

"What the hell, Cas?" Dean murmured at his phone. He had repeatedly tried to get ahold of Castiel, but he wouldn't answer his phone. They had even tried calling Mark, but Mark had left his phone behind.

Sam had moved Amy's body to the bed and covered it. They had cleaned up the blood as much as they could. Sam had gone to dispose of the bloody materials. Then Dean kept trying to call Castiel.

He had left several messages. All of them were some form of "answer the damn phone!" Dean didn't know any other way to contact Cas. So unless Dark had come back and took them, Castiel wouldn't call him back until he wanted to.

Dean put the phone away when Sam walked back into the room. "Any ideas?" he asked. "Because I just keep coming up with blanks. They could be anywhere right now! And if Dark took them, they're probably dead."

"I don't think they're dead," Sam said. "Dark made a show of killing her. He pulled us out of Mark's dream to make sure Mark saw it happen. It wouldn't make sense for him to do that, leave, then come back and kill him."

"You're probably right," Dean said. "Do you think he took them to torture them?"

"Just say it, Dean," Sam said. "You know Cas took Mark."

"But why?" Dean said. "That's what I don't get."

"Cas knows that Amy's alive," Sam said. Wherever Amy was, Dean wouldn't classify her as alive. Not until they got her back. "He would have told us if he was going to try and get her back."

"So he's doing something he knows we'd be against," Dean said, the pieces falling into place. "And it'd be something Mark would go along with."

"Dark," Sam said. Dean nodded, cursing under his breath. "They're going after Dark."

"They're both idiots," Dean said. "How are we gonna find them? There's no way in hell I'm letting them do this on their own."

"Celine."

Dean gestured to the body covered on the bed. "Celine's dead."

"She was no longer tied to the World Between Worlds," Sam said. "She crossed over here. Unless..."

"She's a vengeful spirit," Dean said. "You think she'd know where Dark went?"

"That or she can get us into the World Between Worlds," Sam said. While in the World Between Worlds, they could view Mark wherever he was. It might work the same for Dark. "We don't have a lot of other options."

"After what happened, she might gladly help us find and get rid of Dark," Dean said. He still wouldn't trust her, but as Sam had just said, they didn't have a lot of other options. "Let's do it."

* * *

~World Between Worlds~

Amy paced in front of the mirror, part of her hoping that she would see Sam and Castiel again. That they would tell her that everything was okay. Of course, she could use that window into her world that Dark had left her, but after the last time she had looked into it, she couldn't stomach any more. Mark kept an eye on it, though. He would tell her if something happened.

Mark...but not MY Mark.

"I can feel your thoughts, y'know," he said. "I get it. You don't have to like me. Just don't rub it in my face."

Amy stopped her pacing and turned away from the mirror, looking at him. "You never explained how you ended up here," she said, changing the subject.

"I died," he said. "Again." He looked annoyed by that. "Thought I was free. I guess I'm cursed."

"How did you die?"

"Assassination," he said. "Great actor doesn't equal great mayor, apparently. When I realized I was dying...part of me was relieved. Until I woke up here, of course."

"I don't feel sorry for you," she said. "I'm not on Dark's side either, but you kinda don't deserve a happy ending."

"I know," he said. "I wish I could go back and change things."

Amy didn't have to read his feelings to know that that wasn't the full truth. "Do you?" she asked. "Or do you just want to change what you did to Damien?"

He didn't say anything at first. "If I hadn't done what I did," he said. "I'd probably be in his place now. You never would have met him. I wouldn't have had any reason to go after Mark."

"True."

"But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have eventually come to your world."

"What?"

He gestured her to the window that was floating in front of him. Amy looked into it and saw that he was making the images move backwards. Rewinding it. After a few moments, it stopped. The scene she saw now was of Sam and Castiel sitting at a table, papers and books spread out before them.

"Thousands of years ago, a dark power surfaced," Castiel was saying. "We originally thought it was created by Lucifer, but it was something that didn't come from our world. While it was here, it formed it's own army..." The scene skipped forward some. "...locked it away in another world..." The scene faded away then the small window vanished.

Amy remembered the new information Sam had mentioned, but she had told him she would rather not know. "That dark power..."

"The same power that changed Damien," he said. "It let me escape when it trapped Damien and Celine. I could have saved them..."

"But at the cost of yourself," Amy said. Either way, the outcome wouldn't have been any better. "Was it Dark that formed that army thousands of years ago? Can he time travel on top of everything else?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," he said. "But, no. That dark power was before it had a vessel. Your Hunter friends believe that Dark may regain those memories. It only forgot because it consumed Damien's and it was locked away for thousands of years."

"If it had been you instead of Dark, do you think you would've ended up here just because that dark power was once here?" Amy asked. He didn't have to say anything. She knew it was the truth. "Did they lock it away in that house? Your house?"

He nodded. "Apparently they were confident that it wouldn't get out," he said. "Locked away to never be heard from again."

"They stopped him once, they can do it again."

"He's more powerful now," he said. "He can't be stopped. They'll be lucky if they managed to trap him again."

"Sam and Dean trapped him once," Amy said, remembering the Devil's Trap. "They'll find a way. They've probably faced tougher foes."

"We're safer here."

"You're just gonna give up?"

"We'll die if we go back," he said. "And I'll probably end up back here anyway."

"Then the least you can do is warn them."

"Warn them of what?" he asked. "They already know this! I learned it from them!"

"But the power here... There's gotta be something we can do!"

"Nothing," he said then turned and walked away.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** Sorry for no update last week. I was sick and unable to write anything. But I'll get back to the regular schedule of every Monday. :)

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Traveling via angel wasn't the most comfortable, but Mark had had even weirder modes of transportation. So angel travel wasn't all that bad. And in fact, it was much quicker than any other way. He had nothing to complain about there.

As long as he got to Dark.

Castiel had said that Dark had left a trail. Mark didn't know what kind of trail, but he figured Castiel knew what he was doing. Mark didn't recognize the place they arrived at other than the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't tell if they were outside Los Angeles or not.

It was a pretty big area for a pretty big showdown if Dark was expecting one.

Good thing Mark had an angel on his side.

"Are you sure he left a trail to him and this isn't just a wild goose chase?" Mark asked, turning to Castiel. He noticed that Cas had either silenced his phone or turned it off. Mark didn't say anything about it as Castiel put the phone away.

"It wouldn't make sense for him to make a show of killing Amy and then lead us to nothing," Castiel said.

"Unless he wanted me out of the way," Mark said. "Maybe he has something planned for Amy -"

"No, he's here," Castiel said, sounding way too sure about it. An angel blade was in his hand as he looked around.

Mark eyed the blade then took a few steps away from the angel. Castiel didn't seem to notice or else chose to say nothing.

"How can you be sure?" Mark asked, but didn't need an answer. Dark was now standing there, a few feet away. Mark wished he was back in the World Between Worlds. At least there he had had a fighting chance against Dark's powers. He felt powerless now even with Castiel there.

Judging by the smirk on Dark's face, he had noticed the angel blade. "There's no sneaking up on me this time," he said. "Are you prepared for the straight forward fight?"

"Why did you do it?" Mark asked. "It was me you wanted! Amy -"

"I have my reasons," Dark said, glaring at Mark. He looked at Castiel and his smirk became more menacing and amused. "Castiel knows, but didn't tell you."

Mark glanced at Castiel once. "Tell me what?"

"If you tell him that, you'd have to tell him why you called me here," Dark said. He looked at Mark. "I wasn't the one who left a trail."

"Cas?"

"Don't believe him," Castiel said. And any other time, Mark wouldn't have believed Dark. But there was something nagging him about Castiel.

"Careful," Dark said. "Wouldn't want to make him suspicious." It sounded like that was what he wanted to happen.

Mark stumbled back when Dark suddenly appeared inches away from him. Dark lifted his hand, sending Castiel flying a few feet away. Castiel landed on the ground hard, causing a small dust cloud. Mark started to run, but then Dark grabbed him, clamping a hand around Mark's throat.

"He had good intentions for not telling you," Dark said. "He thinks he can make up for what he did to you."

The memory of Castiel stabbing Mark resurfaced. Dark had made everyone believe that that had been his plan all along. To trap Mark in the World Between Worlds with Celine. She had even mentioned that Dark had done the same to several alternate versions of Mark. But Mark was starting to think that Castiel stabbing him had just been a convenient way for Dark to get rid of Mark.

Because he was pulling the exact same stunt now.

Mark could see Castiel getting to his feet, readying the blade. Mark was hardly able to breathe, let alone cry out in warning. He could easily picture Dark turning at the last second to present Mark's back to Castiel. He struggled against Dark's grip, hoping that Castiel would hold back.

They all stopped at the flash of light.

* * *

Sam had everything set up and ready when the ghost of Celine appeared. Sam looked down at everything in front of him, but didn't have to point out that it had been a waste of time gathering it all.

"I've been dead for most of the time you've known me, Sam," Celine said. "I know my way around. And, no, I'm not a vengeful spirit but I do have unfinished business."

"And you think we'd trust you?" Dean asked. They both knew what was at stake. They had no other choice but to trust her. And she was just a ghost now. They could handle that.

"You're the ones that wanted to contact me," Celine said, gesturing to the assortment of things in front of Sam. "You should ask yourselves that because it looks like you already trust me. To a certain extent, at least."

Sam looked at Dean then back at Celine. "Mark and Cas went after Dark," he said. "Could you tell us where Dark is?"

"No," Celine said then continued before either brother could say something else. "But Amy can."

"Amy?" Dean said.

"She's in the World Between Worlds," Sam said, remembering the mirror. "But we can't talk to her unless we're asleep."

"I don't have to be asleep," Celine said, her tone reminding him that she was dead. "I can talk to her, get her to find them, then I'll be back."

"Wait," Dean said, lifting one hand to halt her even though it wouldn't have done any good. "I still don't -"

"There's bigger things happening here," Celine said. "Trust is the last thing you should be worried about." And then she was gone.

"Great," Dean muttered. "More of the waiting game." He turned and left the room.

Sam sighed then sat down to wait.

* * *

~World Between Worlds~

Amy sat cross-legged on the floor. She knew she should wait for Mark to come to his senses or for Sam and Dean to find a way to contact her again, but she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. She was literally sitting on a power source.

And since this Mark would offer no help, there was nothing else she could do.

Her Mark was in trouble.

As she focused her mind, not knowing how else to focus, she focused on her home. She knew this place could show her whatever she wanted to see, but she wasn't prepared to see her own body laying lifeless on a bed.

She didn't have to search for answers to know that Dark had done something. He had killed Celine, but to everyone else, it would have appeared that he had killed Amy.

"Oh, Mark..." she murmured under her breath. She could imagine what he was going through right now. She had almost gone through the same thing with him.

Her worries for Mark turned into more anger toward Dark. The dark power that surrounded this plane of existence reacted strongly to her anger. It was stronger than anything she had felt before. It felt like something had woken up.

Something powerful and dark.

 _"...a dark power surfaced..."_

 _"...locked it away in another world..."_

Sam, Dean, and Castiel were worried that that power had meant Dark...but it wasn't. It had still been locked away.

"Until you freed It," the Mark from the other world said. He was sitting in front of her now.

Amy tried to escape the dark power that was now crawling Its way inside her. She felt a heavy force against her chest. "You lied..." she managed to choke out.

"You should blame your friends for giving me the idea," he said. "Having them think It's Dark works to my advantage."

"But...you said..."

"A bullshit story to get you to do what I wanted," he said. "Dark's nothing compared to the power that's been buried here for thousands of years. But I do have to thank him. His presence here got Its attention." He said 'it' like it was a name of reverence.

Amy tried to resist, but it was too strong. She felt the power consume her and then It took control.

Her eyes turned a solid black with flickers of flame.

This dark power wasn't planning on giving this Mark anything he wanted. Instead, It reached out her hand and obliterated him with a simple touch. He hadn't felt a thing.

It stood and opened a portal then entered Amy's body.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fourteen**

Celine had told Sam and Dean that she was going to talk to Amy, but instead she went in search of Dark. It had seemed like they were running out of time and talking to Amy now would be a waste of what time they did have.

And she didn't have a lot of time left before she was forced to cross over.

Celine had made a deal with a grim reaper. She had only been able to make the deal after she explained the situation and how she had been a cause. The reaper only gave her a few hours to make it right. Celine would do what she could and then she would be done. Wherever she spent eternity now was better than the eternity she had spent helping Dark. Knowing it was all almost over gave her peace.

Her one last task was to take Dark down.

It was what he deserved after what he had done to her. Stripping her power from her and then killing her. All after he had made the promise to leave her alone.

Though, he had never actually promised. He had just said it was an easy promise and she had taken that as him promising.

Sneaky bastard.

It wasn't difficult for her to find Dark. His anger was like a beacon. And she wasn't surprised to find him with Mark and Castiel. That was what Sam and Dean had been worried about, after all.

Even though Dark had Mark grabbed by the throat, it didn't look like Dark was going to kill him. In fact, it looked as if Dark was waiting for something. And then she noticed Castiel moving toward them with a blade held in his hand.

She knew what Dark was up to. She wouldn't let it end this way.

Using the power the reaper gave her, Celine made herself seen in a flash of light. The three stopped and turned. Mark looked the most surprised to see her.

If he knew he had held her dying instead of Amy, would he hate her?

After what she did, she deserved it.

But she still loved him.

And always would.

"Let him go, Damien," Celine said, using his real name on purpose. It would get his attention away from Mark and Castiel.

Dark obviously wasn't going to let the name bother him. "You're supposed to be dead," he said. She was ready to intervene, but he let go of Mark, who collapsed to the ground coughing and getting his breath back.

"I pulled a few strings," Celine said. "But I don't have a lot of time left."

"And what?" Dark asked, stepping toward her. His back was still to Castiel, but he didn't seem too worried about that. "You can't stop me. No one can!"

"But we can delay you," Celine said. "You can either give up or I'll let Castiel stab you in the back." And then she ignored Dark completely and looked at Mark. "Amy's not dead."

Mark looked up at her and she could feel the pain she saw in his eyes. "She died in my arms..."

"That was me," Celine said. "Castiel knows. Dark helped, but obviously only to kill me. He made sure you saw it happen so you would believe Amy was dead."

Mark was lost in thought. Something had obviously been said before she arrived to put doubt in his mind about Amy's death. "It actually makes sense now," he said, more to himself than anyone else.

"It doesn't matter," Dark said. "She's trapped. She might as well be dead!"

"We'll find a way," Celine started then faltered as something powerful surged through her. Powerful and dark. It wasn't the reaper calling her back. She wasn't out of time. Something else had happened.

Dark had reacted as well, confirming her thoughts. They had both been connected to the power of the World Between Worlds. Dark had cut Celine off, but now she felt it in full force.

The World Between Worlds was gone and something else had replaced it.

And was now in this world.

* * *

Sam headed downstairs, hearing Dean on the phone trying to call Cas again. Sam sat down on the stairs, hoping to think of a new plan if Celine's plan didn't work. He didn't like sitting and waiting just as much as Dean, but he was just at a loss as to what to do here.

He fought back the feeling of complete hopelessness. Castiel was with Mark right now. Surely Cas would make sure nothing happened to Mark. Especially since Cas knew Mark didn't really trust him. Cas would probably try to fix that.

Sam looked up when the lights flickered. Dean immediately put his phone away, looking past Sam and up the stairs. Sam got to his feet and turned...

And froze when he saw Amy standing at the top of the stairs. She was facing the wall, studying the artwork and pictures hanging there. Sam suddenly had a bad vibe and his hand twitched toward his gun. The only movement she made was to reach out and touch a picture frame.

"Amy?" Sam asked. He felt Dean step up beside him. He didn't have to look to know that his brother had his gun out. "You okay?"

She turned to them. Her front was still covered in her own blood, dried, but she didn't seem to notice. Sam reached for his gun when he got a good look at her eyes.

Solid black with tongues of flame.

Sam had never seen anything like it. This was something new.

Or something old.

That dark power Castiel had spoken of came to mind. They had all convinced themselves that Dark was that ancient power. Sam could feel that he was looking at that power right here and now.

And it had a vessel to channel Its power through.

"Sammy," Dean said. Sam knew that tone. Dean was telling him to run.

But where would they run to?

"Amy," Sam said, not knowing if she was even in there, but he had to try. "Amy, if you can hear me, fight it."

"That's not Amy," Dean said. He wasn't helping and Sam gave him a look to convey that feeling.

"Amy cannot fight back," It said through her. The voice was deep, adjusting to Its new form. "She's strong...but I am stronger. She does not want to fight back." The voice sounded more like Amy now, which scared Sam the most. She started down the stairs. Sam and Dean both pulled out their guns as they backed away.

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking at them sadly. "I mean her no harm," she said. "She freed me. She's happy with me."

"Only because you brainwashed her," Dean said, aiming his gun.

She looked at him and the gun flew out of his hands. "If you shoot me, you kill Amy," she said then looked at Sam as if daring him to lift his gun as well.

Sam dropped his gun. The look she gave him was one of respect. She nodded her head then walked out the door.

Dean snatched up his gun and started after her but stopped when Sam grabbed his arm. "We can't stop her, Dean."

"You're just gonna let her walk away?"

"We need a plan," Sam said. "We need to find Cas."

Dean looked in the direction Amy had gone then nodded his head. "But no waiting this time," he said. "Summon Celine."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Fifteen**

Mark was still coming to grips over the news Celine had sprung on him. He wanted to believe it so badly that the possibility that she might have been lying never occurred to him. Maybe because deep down, he knew. Amy had been acting differently recently, he had noticed. Because she hadn't been Amy.

Dark had killed Celine, not Amy.

Amy was alive.

Mark brought his mind back into focus. He forced himself to his feet, not bothering with dusting himself of. He looked around and saw both Dark and Celine distracted by something unseen. And then Castiel, who was going to use that distraction to his advantage.

Getting rid of Dark was the last thing on Mark's mind now.

"Cas!" Mark said, getting the angel's attention. Castiel seemed intent on killing Dark still. Mark walked over to Castiel, taking the angel blade away from him. "We have to get Amy." He glanced at Dark and Celine.

"She's trapped in the mirror," Castiel said. Was that the reason they wanted to find the mirror so badly? How long had Amy been trapped?

"Then we need him," Mark said, talking about Dark. He hated that he had to say it, but Dark was the only way Mark would get Amy back. "Just until we get her back."

"Easier said than done," Dark said. Him and Celine were both facing Mark and Castiel now. "She's no longer trapped in the mirror."

Mark's first instinct was to not believe him, but Dark actually looked worried about something. "What's the part you're leaving out?" he asked.

Dark looked at Castiel. "You tell me," he said. "It's something powerful and it's now got Amy." He sounded concerned for Amy, which made Mark hate him more. Knowing something had happened between Dark and Amy was bad enough. Seeing signs of it was worse.

"Something powerful..." Castiel murmured as if something was dawning on him. "It's not Dark." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Now he was going to call Sam and Dean?

"What's not Dark?" Mark asked. "What's got Amy?"

"Thousands of years ago, a dark power surfaced," Dark said. "It created an army then was beaten back and trapped in another world to keep this one safe."

"When It passed into this world, we gained It's knowledge," Celine explained. That was what they had been distracted by.

But that wasn't what Mark cared about. He looked from Dark and over at Castiel. "That dark power...is controlling Amy?" he asked.

Castiel had obviously gotten in contact with Sam and Dean and had confirmed Mark's fear. "We thought it was Dark," he said. "If we had known..."

"You couldn't have stopped it," Dark said. "She destroyed the World Between Worlds. I'm stuck here." He was angrier than usual. At least that anger wasn't directed at Mark.

It troubled Mark that that anger was now directed at Amy even if she wasn't Amy.

"You stopped it once before," Celine said, speaking to Castiel. "I can read that much off of you."

"We stopped it before it was able to procure a vessel," Castiel said. "What we learned about It was that It'd be more powerful with one."

"More powerful as in unstoppable," Dark said. It sounded like he was blaming Celine for what had happened.

Celine got the same feeling, obviously. "If it hadn't been Amy, it would have been me," she said.

"Exactly!" Dark said. "If it had been you, It wouldn't have gotten a vessel."

Celine hadn't thought of that. "You helped me," she whispered then vanished.

"That's right," Dark screamed at the sky. "Run away, bitch! That was all you were ever good at!" When he turned back, he froze. Mark had handed the angel blade back and Castiel was now standing there with the blade at Dark's throat.

Mark stood behind Castiel. The look Dark was giving him now was that he knew Mark was in charge. Dark could easily fight back, Mark knew, but now they both had something in common.

They both wanted to save Amy.

Mark stepped forward. "I'm not sure how you feel about Amy anymore," he said since Dark had left her trapped in the World Between Worlds. "But you did care about her. She's in danger and you're the only one -"

"You didn't feel her power," Dark said. "I can't go up against that."

"You're not going against It on your own," Mark said. He didn't have to ask to know Castiel would help. The same with Sam and Dean. It was the reason they were even here, after all. Though, they had thought it would be them against Dark.

Dark laughed. "You're just as crazy as him," he said, talking about the Mark that had stolen Damien's body.

"Maybe," Mark admitted. "But I won't make the same mistakes he did." He was trying to make Dark an ally in this. He really was crazy. But all that mattered to him now was rescuing Amy. "Will you help us?" he asked then rephrased the question: "Will you help Amy?"

Dark hesitated at first as if he was trying to deny that he still felt anything for Amy. "Fine," he growled. "But only for Amy."

"That's all I'm asking for," Mark said. "Once Amy's safe, we can go back to hating each other."

Dark looked at Castiel, who was still holding the angel blade to his throat. "We're working together now," he said. "Be nice."

Castiel glared at him but lowered the angel blade, cutting a thin line across Dark's neck in the process. Mark expected the worst, but Dark chose not to react. Castiel put the blade away and Mark gave a quiet sight of relief.

"We should meet up with Sam and Dean," Mark said.

Dark rolled his eyes. "I'll get them."

* * *

As before, Sam had everything prepared to summon Celine. And unlike last time, he was able to use the items to summon her. When she appeared, she didn't look bothered by the summoning. She actually looked relieved.

Sam turned to fetch Dean, but his brother was already walking into the room. "That was Cas," Dean said, explaining the phone call he had gotten. "I told him about Amy. He's keeping a close watch on Dark." He looked at Celine.

"I know what I told you," Celine said, picking up on their mood. "I wouldn't have been able to stop it from happening."

"How did it happen in the first place?" Dean asked. "It was your little 'plane of existence'! Shouldn't you have noticed the big bad sharing your space?!"

"It was trapped," Celine said. "No one knew about it. The only explanation I have is that someone who did know planted the idea and woke it up after sensing that."

"So we're the bad guys," Dean said. "We aren't the only ones who spent time in that world. It was probably one of the Marks you've had trapped in there."

"Mark..." Celine started to protest, but then stopped.

"The dreams," Sam said, remembering the Mark that had been with Amy in the mirror. "He was there."

"Mark?" Celine asked. "My Mark?" Sam nodded. "He was there and we didn't notice... He woke It up. And probably gave Amy to It."

"I'm not dealing with another Mark," Dean said.

"It only talked about Amy," Sam said, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

"He's gone," Celine said after a few moments of silence. "That's what I felt when I felt It enter this world. Loss. She killed him."

"At least we don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Dean!" Sam gave him a look. Dean just shrugged.

"I mourned his loss a long time ago," Celine said. It sounded like she wasn't over it yet. But she still had to accept the fact that he had been there without her noticing. "I want to help you stop her."

"I don't know how much help a ghost would be, but sure, join the team. Why not?" Dean said. "We gotta meet up with Cas. They're -"

Before he could finish, the three disappeared then reappeared in front of Castiel, Mark and Dark.

Dean looked at Celine. "It wasn't me," she said. He then looked at Dark, who just smirked.

"I didn't know he was going to do that," Castiel said.

"Better than taking the time to go there, I guess," Mark said then looked at Sam and Dean. "So what's the plan?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Sixteen**

They didn't start planning until after they were back at 'Markiplier HQ.' And after Dean had finally stopped complaining about how Dark had teleported them to the desert just so they had to travel all the way back. On foot, at first, before they had been able to hitch a ride the rest of the way. No one asked why Castiel hadn't used his angel powers to get them back. Too busy bitching at Dark, apparently.

Which was why Dark had done it. He had decided to work with them against the entity controlling Amy, but he didn't have to be too cooperative about it.

"Why are you even doing this?" Celine asked in his head so the others wouldn't hear. They were discussing battle plans already. "You actually made me believe you no longer cared about her."

"How do you know I'm not trying to form an alliance with her and betray everyone else?" Dark asked, keeping his voice low. The others weren't paying attention anyway. "You felt her power."

"I did," Celine said. "But that's why I'm helping them stop her. Besides...seeking to gain a power like that was more Mark's speed. You go for revenge, not power."

"Some would argue that revenge is power," Dark said. He caught Mark looking his way, the only one to notice that Dark was speaking quietly. "If It has bonded with Amy as much as it feels, then she wouldn't help me kill Mark anyway. She loves him too much."

"Is that jealousy I feel?" Celine asked. "You really do grow soft in this world."

"What about you?" Dark asked. "Thought you'd be happy with happy out of the picture."

"Yes, but things change," Celine said. "I've decided I love him enough to let him go. Ignore the cliche. And besides, I'm dead for good now. Not future in that."

"I gave you a body before."

"That was stolen," Celine said. They both noticed Mark walking over. "Behave." Dark rolled his eyes and she was gone.

"I know you don't want to be here," Mark said. "But I meant what I said when I told you I wouldn't make the same mistakes. You've hurt a lot of people, but..." He held out his hand. "I feel like it's my duty to forgive you."

Dark ignored the hand by clasping his own behind his back. "I didn't apologize," he said.

"And I don't expect you to," Mark said. "But I forgive you anyway."

"I killed Amy."

"We'll get her back."

"This isn't the way things go."

"Guy saves girl. Pretty normal -"

"No!" Dark growled out. "Whatever you're trying to pull here. You've forgotten that I'm NOT your friend."

"I haven't forgotten and never will," Mark said, finally lowering his hand. "But there's more to you than what you make people see. Amy saw it."

"Amy saw what I wanted her to see," Dark said. Plus whatever manipulation Celine had been putting him through before. "I feel nothing for her."

"Then why are you here?"

Before Dark could answer, Sam, Dean and Castiel got their attention. "Cas has an idea," Dean said. "It's not much, but it's all we've got for now." He nodded for Castiel to speak.

"As you all know, I've faced this entity before," Castiel said. "But I was fighting with a few hundred angels against Its army of fallen angels."

"And It didn't have a vessel to channel Its full power through," Sam put in. No one seemed to like his input, but no one said anything.

"I could plead my case to heaven," Castiel went on. "But they don't have the angels to spare."

"Even if they know what we're up against?" Mark asked.

"Without proof that Amy's intent is for destruction and war," Castiel said. "they'll keep out of it."

"All she said was that she wouldn't harm Amy," Sam said. "She's been out there for a couple of hours now and we haven't heard anything. Maybe she's not interested in destruction."

"Maybe Amy is influencing her choices," Dean said. "It seemed to really like Amy."

Dark smirked and glanced at Mark, guessing that that wasn't what Mark wanted to hear about his girlfriend. But Dark could only see worry on Mark's face.

"If so, and unless we goad her into causing destruction, we have to do this without heaven's help," Castiel said.

"What about hell?" Dark asked. He expected them all to ignore the suggestion, but the hunters looked like they were actually considering it. "If its power you need, go for the most."

"But that's more risky than getting the angels' help," Sam said. He looked at Castiel. "You had an idea. We haven't heard it yet."

"There's a spell," Castiel said. "That we can use to trap It again."

"What's the catch?" Celine asked, appearing in the room. "It can't be that easy. Especially if you think It's now more dangerous with a vessel."

"You're right," Castiel said with a slight nod toward Celine. "And I'm not even certain that it'll work, but it will slow her down if nothing else."

"It'll give us time to figure something else out," Dean said.

"And what if she's not dangerous?" Mark asked. "Sam mentioned that she hasn't done anything."

"That doesn't mean she won't," Dean said. "We'll stop her before it gets to that point."

"Is your way of stopping her the same way you stopped Dark?" Mark asked. "Stabbing her to get rid of the problem?" He could talk all he wanted about forgiving Dark, but clearly he hadn't forgiven Castiel for what happened.

"We'll get Amy back," Dean said. "We won't make the same mistake." It was what Mark had said to Dark earlier. Dean couldn't have known that, but it seemed to work on Mark because of that.

"I'll gather everything we need for the spell," Castiel said. "I should be back in an hour." Dean nodded and Castiel left.

As everyone went their separate ways to do whatever or wait, Dean turned to Dark. "We're keeping an eye on you," he said.

"Still don't trust me?"

Dean stepped toward him, using his taller height as intimidation. It only slightly worked because Dark had to look up at him. "You step outta line and you're done," he said.

"Because that's worked so well for you before," Dark said since they had already tried everything to stop him. "I'm still standing."

Dean grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. "I don't care what anyone else says, we don't need you," he said. "There's nothing stopping me from killing you right now."

"Except the fact that you DO need me," Dark said. "If that spell doesn't work, I'm the only power you have."

Dean stared him down for a moment then let him go and stepped back. "If the spell works," he said. "We don't need you."

Dark said nothing.

* * *

Mark walked into his office to have some time for himself to think. He never would have expected to walk in and see Amy standing there. He had to remind himself that it wasn't Amy before he could run over and take her in his arms.

Even so, there was still emotion in his voice as he whispered: "Amy."

"You mean a lot to her," she said. She was wearing a long, black dress that he remembered Amy buying. This thing had been in their closet. "Your friends want to kill me."

"You pose a threat," Mark said then added: "They're afraid of you."

"Because of what I am?" she asked. "Or because it's up to me whether or not you'll ever see Amy again?"

"You created an army the last time you were on this world," Mark said. "They want to prevent that from happening again."

She pulled out a chair and sat down. Her casualness was the most disconcerting for him. "It wasn't an army," she said. "They just wanted to see it that way."

"Then what was it?"

She invited him to sit down. Before he could refuse, Mark found himself walking over to sit in a chair in front of her. Had she used her power on him or had he wanted to sit down with her?

"That 'army' consisted of people who loved me," she said. "Not all of them were fallen angels. But all of them were destroyed without a thought because their crime was following me."

"You consider yourself a god."

"Goddess," she corrected. "Of peace. My name was Eirene."

"Castiel called you a dark power," Mark said. "That you'd be unstoppable with a vessel."

"I was changed by something that pledged himself as my devoted follower," she said. "I didn't have a vessel back then, but I still had feelings. I feel in love with him. It was because of him that I was portrayed as that dark power."

"You fell in love with a demon," he guessed.

"A Prince of Hell, in fact," she said. "Then I was trapped for thousands of years, hoping for revenge." She paused for a moment. "Maybe I am what they're afraid of." Her eyes met his and the flames in her dark eyes scared him.

"Where I was trapped, you were there," she said. "But not YOU. He promised he would be there for me. I thought he was the Prince, so I killed him." A Mark had been trapped in that world with Amy?

"That was me from another world," Mark said. "Was he the only one you killed?"

"Amy is unharmed," she said then seemed to make a new decision. "For now."

"As long as Sam and Dean back off."

She didn't have to confirm it. "I will have my revenge," she said. "If you stay out of my way, Amy will be returned to you." She rose to her feet. "I trust that you can deliver my message."

Then she was gone.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Seventeen**

Mark hurried out to the others to tell them what Amy had told him. _Eirene,_ he reminded himself. Now that he had a name for her, it made it easier for him to not think of her as Amy. And if all went Eirene's way, he would have Amy back soon.

Castiel was still away when he found the others. He glanced over at Dark, who was now standing in the middle of a Devil's Trap. That was definitely easier than keeping an eye on him. Mark headed over to Sam and Dean, who both turned at his approach.

"Promise not to freak out," Mark said before either of them could speak. "But I spoke to Amy. Well, the goddess that is currently possessing her."

"Goddess?!" Dark said before the brothers could react. "Damn." Everyone ignored him.

"What did she say?" Sam asked. He was the more calm one. Dean looked ready to start yelling at something.

"She's a goddess that fell in love with a Prince of Hell," Mark said, giving the short version of what he had been told. "She used to be the goddess of peace until that Prince of Hell changed her. As soon as she gets her revenge, she'll return Amy..." He trailed off when he could see a change in both Sam's and Dean's expressions. "What?"

"The Princes of Hell are all dead," Dean said. "Asmodeus being the last."

"Asmodeus is dead?" Dark asked. "That's why I haven't gotten a visit since I've been here." Again, he was ignored.

"And if she finds out?" Mark asked.

"She'll either do as she told you," Sam said. "Or take out her anger on everyone else."

"What all did she tell you?" Dean asked. "Full details. Leave nothing out."

"About the Prince of Hell and how he changed her," Mark said. "Because of him, she was portrayed as a dark power and her followers were killed by angels. Some of those followers were innocent beings. She was trapped in the World Between Worlds and she blamed that Prince for everything. She even killed a Mark in the World Between Worlds, thinking he was that Prince."

"What Mark?" Dark asked. "There wasn't a Mark there when I left." Mark would have just ignored him again, but Sam and Dean had other ideas.

"He was the Mark you're after," Sam told Dark. "Cas and I spoke to him and Amy in Mark's dream."

"Looks like your hunt for him was all for nothing," Dean said. "He was right there with you and you didn't know. Someone even got to him before you."

Mark glanced over at Dark, who's only reaction was silence.

Then Celine appeared. "He's telling the truth, Damien," she said. "It's what we both felt."

"This changes nothing!" Dark said, glaring at Mark. "They're all the same."

"But they're not," Celine said. "And you know it." Dark looked at her, but remained silent. "You've been fighting this anger for years. Because of him. He's gone now. Let it go."

Mark couldn't see any change, but there must have been something based on Celine's smile. "That's my unfinished business," she said. "I just wish I could see Damien return after all these years." She gave a sad smile then faded away.

Mark knew he would never see her again.

"Now that that's over with," Dean said, getting back to business. "We need to prepare for the eventual backlash of the goddess once she finds out her Prince is dead."

"I wonder which Prince it was," Sam said, curiously.

"It doesn't matter since they're all dead," Dean said, pulling out his phone. "I'll update Cas." He turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

Dark didn't move until a few minutes after Celine had crossed over. And even then he couldn't move too far since he was trapped in a Devil's Trap. All of his instincts were screaming at him to run away. It was a coward's reaction. But he wasn't a coward.

Neither is Damien, he thought. No matter how weak he was before.

What Damien was is gone, he reminded himself. Celine's hopes won't change that.

"Did it really change anything?"

Dark turned his head and saw Mark standing at the edge of the Trap. Sam was keeping a watchful eye on the two of them.

"Is it really over?"

Dark thought back to the last few minutes with Celine. It had taken her saying it for him to believe that the man he had been chasing all these years was finally gone. She had lied to him about it before, but he believed it now because he had known what he had felt even if he had ignored it at the time.

But had he accepted it? Yes...now.

Did it change anything? Mayhaps.

So was it really over?

"It doesn't change the anger and hatred I still feel," Dark said. "I'll be waiting if you ever step out of line."

Mark nodded and turned away. That answer was obviously good enough for him.

It was over. Dark could move on. But where? The World Between Worlds was gone. He was trapped here. He would just have to make due with that. At least until he found a way out of this world.

And in the meantime, he would keep an eye on Mark.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I know it's short. (and a day early!) But I was in the mood to write and felt like this was all this chapter needed. This might be coming to an end pretty soon, so stay tuned! :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Eighteen**

Castiel returned not much longer after Dean had called him to update him on the situation. He hadn't been able to acquire everything he needed for the spell, but he let the Winchesters know that he had another plan.

"So let's just keep with the running theme of bad ideas," Dean said when he heard the plan. He knew he didn't have to remind them that every plan they had made with Dark involved somehow always turned bad quickly. But this was just ridiculous!

Castiel's plan was for Dark to pretend to be the Prince of Hell Eirene was after to draw her in.

"And what do we do when she gets here?" Dean asked. "You said it yourself that you don't have everything for the spell. And the devil's trap sure as hell won't work. She's a goddess!"

"You and Sam can figure that out when she gets here," Castiel said which made Dean want to hit something, but he held back. He also told himself to not blow up about anything. So far, everyone was making it hard to keep his temper under control.

"Mark," Sam said. And as everyone turned to look at Mark, Dean caught on to his brother's plan. It was a lot better than what Castiel had just proposed.

Mark looked behind him as if there was someone else in the room named Mark. "What can I do?" he asked. "I'm the person here that would get killed off first."

"But you're still here," Sam said. "She already talked to you once."

"I won't be able to make her believe Dark is a Prince of Hell."

"Why'd she kill that other Mark?" Dean asked, needing to show that Mark was the only one qualified for this job.

Mark was starting to put it together. "She thought he was the Prince of Hell," he said. "She probably thought I was too since we literally look the same, but she dismissed it because she felt me." Dean raised his eyebrows at that, but said nothing, his mind immediately in the gutter. "Not like that," Mark added. Dean just smirked. "She won't believe Dark is this Prince for very long."

"Hopefully it'll be enough time," Sam said. "I'll start researching ways to trap a goddess." He walked over to the table and started working at the laptop that was there.

Dean turned to Castiel. "Is there any chance of being able to get the rest of the stuff for that spell?" he asked.

"Without going directly to heaven for help, we're a few thousand years too late for some of the ingredients," Castiel said, frowning. "Heaven can't spare anything right now."

"If she hadn't destroyed the World Between Worlds, I could have gone back to get those ingredients," Dark said, confirming their earlier thoughts that Dark could travel through time, using the World Between Worlds.

"Good riddance to the World Between Worlds," Dean said even though it could also have been their access to the apocalypse world where their mom was trapped right now. But, another opportunity would present itself. "You wouldn't have come back."

"Of course I wouldn't have," Dark said. "You actually think I want to be here?"

"You came back," Dean said. "No one brought you here."

"I only came back because Celine had me trapped in my own head," Dark said, a darkness forming around him. Dean reached for the angel blade he had tucked away, but the darkness was receding soon after. A moment later, it was gone. "I gave her what she wanted then I took it away from her."

"How did Celine have you trapped?" Mark asked. "Was she really more powerful than you there?"

"Not more powerful, just more clever," Dark said. "She knows me. She knew how to use that against me."

"Eirene was trapped in there with you, along with that other Mark," Mark said. "Did Celine hide them from you?"

"She was just as shocked to learn that they were there," Dark said. "I don't know how we didn't notice."

"Then there might be something else that got out," Dean said. "You have no way to know what else was in there with you if you didn't notice a goddess."

"They probably wouldn't end up here if there were more trapped," Dark said. "If she's as dangerous as you say, then they were trapped with her for thousands of years. They would have run away to everywhere but here."

"You better be right."

"We can only put her back by using that spell?" Mark asked. Castiel nodded. "You got to the mirror in my dream. The mirror that led to that world. Can't you just push her in?"

"She'd have to be inside you to do that," Dark said. "And me since I'm the only one here who's actually put someone in that world."

"Having you inside me wasn't fun the first time."

Dark just smirked. Dean knew what they were talking about, but it was still odd to hear and it made him uncomfortable. And from the look Dark gave him, he knew what was going through Dean's mind.

Dark winked and Dean suddenly had an image in his mind that he DID NOT want. It was like a bad porno, with Mark in the middle of Dark and Amy. Dean had to leave the room before he threw up, hearing Dark's laughter in his head.

* * *

Mark turned his head when Dean just left the room with no explanation while they were talking. Dark chuckled as if he knew something. But before Mark could ask about that, Sam called him and Castiel over.

"I haven't taken into account that this Eirene is from a different world," Sam said. "I was starting to think that if we knew how she got here, it might tell us how to send her back."

"So you're not gonna kill her," Mark said. "Even after she lets Amy go?"

"I don't even think killing her is possible," Sam said. "Our only hope is to send her back. She came here for a reason. Maybe where she came from, the world's already ended."

"The apocalypse world?" Castiel asked. "You think she might be from there?"

"It's only a theory."

"Apocalypse world?" Mark asked.

"Don't worry about that," Sam said. "We're taking care of it."

"I'm not sure we'd want to send her back there if we plan on going there ourselves," Castiel said. "Trapping her elsewhere is the better option."

Sam nodded. "Trapping her in the mirror is a good idea," he said. "But as Dark said, that world was destroyed when she came here. Her powers were obviously the one thing sustaining that world."

"Then I convince her to make it again," Mark said. Sam and Castiel looked ready to protest. "I have the best chance. She pretty much told me she wouldn't harm me because Amy loves me."

"How are you gonna do that?" Sam asked. He looked away for a moment as Dean returned.

"Don't ask," Dean said, sitting down at the table. No one asked.

"I'm not sure how to do it," Mark said. "But I can keep her talking. It might come up."

"Are we still going with the Dark pretending to be a Prince of Hell thing?" Dean asked. "If she really hates this guy so much, she can take care of Dark for us."

Mark looked over at Dark, who was just standing there staring their way. For some reason, Mark didn't like the thought of just letting Eirene kill Dark. He didn't focus on that thought too much.

Mark looked back at Sam and Dean. "How do we even find her?" he asked. "We have no clue where she could have gone."

"This ain't the fun part," Dean said. "Amy told us a while back that Dark was once a beacon for Asmodeus and other demons by using his powers. We're gonna have to let him out of the trap."

Great.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait. I didn't update because I was without internet for a while. This chapter and the next will be the last two. All good things must come to an end, sadly. But I'll keep writing other stories, don't worry. :)

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen**

Dark could have left, but he didn't. He had had plenty of opportunities. He still did. He could have left when they broke the devil's trap. He could have left during the drive out to the desert. (Sam and Dean figured it would be safest away from any heavily populated areas.) And now, standing in the desert using his powers to hide Mark, Dean, Sam and Castiel, he could still leave. But he didn't. And there could only be one explanation for that.

Despite everything he had tried to deny, he still cared about Amy.

But as soon as she was safe, he was gone. At least that was what he told himself. At the rate he was going, he would end up as a permanent fixture in Mark's life.

He couldn't let that happen.

All he had to do was get Eirene's attention and then he was done. It would all be up to Sam and Dean at that point and he didn't give a damn about how they planned on stopping her. All Dark had to do was distract her.

He had to pretend he was a Prince of Hell. And since he had been around one, Asmodeus, he could easily mimic the other's power. Hopefully it would only get Eirene's attention. The last thing he needed was more demons on his tail.

He had been told before that his powers were like a beacon for other demons. He hoped that didn't work against him this time. He couldn't feel anyone paying attention, but that didn't mean a thing. He hadn't known Asmodeus had been paying attention until the Prince of Hell had been right in front of him.

And it was happening again now. Before he knew it, Eirene was standing in front of him.

He didn't see Amy in those eyes that stared back at him. He couldn't even feel her in there, so how did they know she was even still alive? Because Eirene said so? They were going to learn the hard way to not trust a tainted goddess.

"Asmodeus," she said. Her tone told Dark that Asmodeus was the Prince of Hell she had been in love with. And the sudden shift in her eyes and manner said she saw right through his deception.

Before he could react, she reached out and grabbed him by the throat. He thought he could protect himself, but then she started sucking the power out of him. He choked against her grip, falling to his knees. Her grip never loosened and he could still feel her sucking everything out of him.

He was suddenly bombarded with emotions. Of the man he had once been. He was filled with guilt over everything he had done. He could feel tears forming, but he could do nothing to stop it.

Why weren't they stopping her?!

That was when he noticed her other hand stretched out toward the others. Not only was she draining him of his powers, she was also holding the others back. He couldn't see them because they were behind him and he was too concerned with what she was doing to him to worry about the others.

They had failed.

"Amy..." Dark managed to say. The darkness being stripped away was more crippling than the hand strangling him. He had relied on Dark for so long, it was like an addiction. "Amy!" It took all his strength to cry out, hoping he would get through to her.

"What did you think you could accomplish?" she said, her voice dark with anger. "By manipulating me?"

He was losing the fight. He could feel the darkness slipping away. There was light at the end of the tunnel. He could dimly see Celine's smiling face. His fight was over. Damien...

"Amy..." His fight wasn't over yet. He grabbed her arm, forcing her off of him, peeling her hand off his neck. She seemed surprised by his sudden strength. "Amy!"

"No!" she cried out and an unseen force blasted him away from her. He landed in the dirt, too weak to move. The strength was gone. There was nothing left but him. Just a man.

* * *

The blackness Dark was using to hide them also prevented them from seeing Dark, so Dean was still a bit suspicious of Dark's motives. If Dark was actually leaving instead of sticking around to help them...

The plan they had put together was simple. While Dark was distracting Eirene, Castiel would circle them, pouring a ring of holy oil. The only thing they knew of that could trap a being of Eirene's power. It wouldn't last forever, but they hoped it would be enough time for Mark to talk to her and clear everything up. Hopefully. There would still be no guarantees that she would just leave.

Then suddenly the darkness disappeared. Sam yelled Dean's name and pointed. Dean looked and saw Dark falling to his knees in front of Eirene, who had her hand around his neck.

"Cas!" Dean shouted, giving the angel the signal to start pouring. But when they started to move forward, they were stopped by an invisible force. Dean looked forward and saw Eirene's attention split between keeping them in place and strangling the life from Dark.

"So much for the surprise," Mark murmured. Dean didn't bother telling him they didn't need to hear that negativity.

"Do we have a Plan B?" Castiel asked.

"This was Plan B!" Dean said since Castiel's useless spell had been their first choice. "Sammy?"

"Something's happening," Sam said, still watching Dark and Eirene.

Dean looked forward. Nothing was clear, but something seemed to be agitating Eirene. Then the next moment Dark was thrown back. Eirene dropped to her knees with a loud cry. And the force that was holding them still was gone.

"Amy!" Mark exclaimed as he ran over to her. Dean tried to grab him and stop him, but was too late. Mark knelt down beside her.

Castiel hurried forward, pouring the holy oil in a circle around Mark and Eirene. Dean pulled out his lighter, readying himself. As soon as Castiel was done, Dean shouted for Mark to move.

Mark didn't move at first. Dean was able to see her mouth 'go!' then Mark was jumping back. Dean fired up the lighter and dropped it once Mark was clear. The oil lit up immediately, creating a fire right around her.

She was trapped.

"Dean." Dean looked over his shoulder and saw Sam kneeling beside Dark.

Dean looked at Mark and Castiel. "Keep an eye on her," he said then turned and walked over to Sam, but stopped when Mark touched his arm.

"She was Amy again," Mark said. "At least for a little while." Dean nodded. He had figured as much when she had told Mark to go.

"Guess you're not the only one talented enough to fight against a possession for a bit," Dean said. It had been done before, so it wasn't uncommon, but against a powerful entity, it took a lot of willpower. Mark had been able to fight Dark long enough to trap him and now Amy had done the same with Eirene. No matter how he looked at it, he had to admit that Mark and Amy were special.

Dean walked over to Sam, who had helped Dark into a sitting position. "What happened?" Dean asked. "How'd she get the drop on you so fast?"

"Dean." Sam started.

"I pretended to be Asmodeus," Dark said. "I guessed that pissed her off." Dark's eyes were red, which meant that he had cried at some point. Something Dean found odd.

"Dean," Sam stood, pulling Dean to the side. He lowered his voice. "Does he seem different to you?"

Dean shrugged. "He seems...drained," he said. "No telling what Eirene did to him."

"But he knows what happened," Sam said. "He told me. She sucked Dark out of him. I couldn't be sure at first, but..." He glanced over at Dark and then shrugged.

Dean looked at Dark then back at Sam. "You mean...?"

Sam nodded. "We can always check to make sure, but...that's Damien."

"Just like that?" Dean asked. He looked back at Dark. He did seem a bit more...human. But he still wouldn't trust it. Dark was good at pretending. "We'll check on that later."

"And if I'm right?"

Dean knew what he was asking the most. They had discussed it before. They had hoped to get Dark to open a rift to the apocalypse world so they could save their mom and Jack(Lucifer's son). But if Dark was no longer Dark, then the powers were gone too.

Dean said nothing. He walked back over to Mark and Castiel.

* * *

As soon as Dean had gone over to talk to Sam, Mark stepped toward the ring of fire where Eirene was sitting, just watching them. She didn't seem angry anymore. Just patient. Like she had resigned herself to the fact that she had been caught. Maybe she already knew her Prince of Hell was dead.

"You want to bargain for her life," Eirene said. "Do you really think you have anything to offer me?"

"Not here to bargain," Mark said. "You're right, we have nothing to offer. All we can really do is ask you to leave." He didn't mention that she had been polite with everything so far. Except for the fact that she had almost killed Dark.

"What reason do I have to leave?"

"You know the answer to that."

"He lied to me," she said. About Dark pretending to be a Prince of Hell. "I can't forgive that."

"You punished him enough," Dean said, stepping up beside Mark. "Some might say you helped him, but he's probably not too happy about the loss." Mark looked at him confused, but Dean just muttered "later."

"He'll no longer be a problem," Eirene agreed then stood up. "I have no quarrel with any of you. I'll take my leave and return Amy."

Dean looked at Mark. "Think we can trust her?"

Mark looked at Eirene. He didn't know what it was, but something told him that it would be okay. "Where are you gonna go?" he asked her.

"There are many worlds," she said. "Perhaps I'll find my purpose in one."

"Let her go," Mark told Dean.

Dean gave a nod then stepped forward, kicking some dirt onto the fire, breaking the ring. Part of Mark expected her to retaliate and kill them all, but instead a dark mist flew out of her mouth, lifting into the sky and vanishing into a flash of light.

Mark hurried over to Amy, who was close to collapsing. He put his arms around her, holding her steady. After a moment her eyes grew clear and as soon as she saw him, she flung her arms around him.

She was home.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty**

Amy never left Mark's side as they walked over to join the others. Mark didn't want her anywhere else. He held her hand and she squeezed it every once in a while as if reminding herself that she was back.

"Looks like our work here is done," Dean said. "Again. If something else comes up, you're dealing with it without us."

"He's joking," Sam said. "But we shouldn't have to worry about them. At least for now."

"What about Dark?" Mark asked. Dark had told him that he would keep an eye on Mark. That might mean trouble somewhere down the road.

"About that..." Sam said, looking at Dark. Mark noticed that Dark looked the most haggard of them all. In fact, Mark could see another change in him.

"Damien," Amy said. She had grown the closest to him, so obviously she would know.

"Damien?" Mark asked. "What happened?"

"It's what Eirene did," Dark said. Damien. "I can't say for sure that there's still not a little bit of darkness in me, but the powers are gone. Celine would have called me cured. Celine..."

"It wasn't you," Amy said. "It was Dark."

"We were one and the same," Damien said. "I have a lot to atone for, but...I don't regret any of it. You can hate me for it. I deserve that."

"I already forgave you," Mark said. He had meant it then and he still meant it.

"Thank you," Damien said. He paused for a moment. "I've decided to leave."

"Where will you go?" Amy asked.

"Don't worry about me," Damien said. "We'll never cross paths again."

Amy seemed bothered by that, but Mark knew it was for the best. And not just because of any jealous feelings he may still have.

"I'll live with what I've done for the rest of my life," Damien said. "I may not regret it, but there's still a lot I have to deal with. You'd be surprised how long it's been for me." He gave a nod then without a goodbye, he turned and started walking away.

"We're just gonna let him leave like that?" Amy asked.

"He'll find his own way," Mark said. He looked at her. "We have our own lives to live." She smiled and put her arms around his neck, leaning into him.

"Let's get you two home," Dean said, heading for the car. "I'm getting tired of California."

* * *

Amy stood at the window, watching as Sam, Dean, and Castiel drove away. Part of her was thinking she would never see them again and that was okay. She saw them as friends, but she would be relieved if she never saw them again. She was done with excitement for a while.

Mark came up behind her, putting his arms around her. She smiled, leaning back into him. She knew she had only been away from him for a few days, but it had felt like longer. Spending a short time with that other Mark had only made her miss her Mark more. And then sitting in the sidelines as Eirene took over had been the most torture.

"I never got to thank him," Amy said then clarified before he could ask. "Dark...Damien."

"Thank him for what?"

"For calling out to me, bringing me back," Amy said. "I know it was pretty much his fault that I even ended up there, but if he hadn't called me back, all of you would be dead."

"Eirene was pretty pissed then."

"She did it because she convinced herself she had to."

"I'm just glad it's over."

"Me, too," Amy said, pondering something else. "Do you think he was telling the truth? That we'll never see him again?"

"I believe it," Mark said. "But from everything I've learned, I wouldn't be surprised if another Darkiplier pops up somewhere."

"Ugh, don't tell me that," Amy said. "I've had my fill of Darkipliers."

"But there's infinite possibilities in the multiverse," Mark said. She could hear the grin on his face.

"Well, we took care of one," Amy said. "All we'd have to do is call Eirene back."

"On second thought, we should find out how to block the multiverse from getting to us."

Amy chuckled then patted him on the arm. "Let's go get some sleep."

She took one last look out the window then the two went to bed.

* * *

 **The End**


End file.
